Maximizing Your Employee Incentive Plan

Maximizing Your Employee Incentive Plan

Nichole Gunn

employee incentive plan

employee incentive plans
It’s safe to say that the majority of business owners have a vested interest in keeping their employees motivated and engaged in the success of the enterprise. It’s also safe to say that if you want an employee to stay invested in your business, you must first invest in the employee. One way to show an employee their value and to motivate their behavior is to establish an employee incentive plan.

Benefits of an Employee Incentive Plan

An employee reward and recognition program is the icing on an employee’s cake. A customized employee incentive plan can boost employee engagement and improve overall company culture. According to the Incentive Research Foundation, more than half of American companies utilize an employee incentive plan. The Incentive Federation tells us that organizations with higher employee engagement have:

• Higher profits
• Higher sales
• Higher customer satisfaction
• Better productivity

Employee incentive plans help prevent staff turnover ( a major employer cost driver) and improve employee job satisfaction.

Types of Employee Incentive Plans

An employer can choose to use their employee incentive plan to recognize some of the following employee benchmarks:

• Number of years served
• Employee of the month
• Top sales performer
• Best customer service
• Attendance
• Employee wellness

A peer to peer recognition program allows employees to acknowledge top performing co-workers. One of the benefits of these programs is that it improves inter-departmental working relationships.

Job safety incentive programs are developed to reward a safe work environment, encouraging employees to act proactively to make “safety first” a normal part of their day.

The employee incentive plan must be measurable and attainable and must distribute awards within a reasonable amount of time: deferring a reward out to the 12-month mark might not be as effective at motivating behavior as a quarterly bonus.

So what kind of tangible rewards are found in the typical employee incentive plan?

• Perks like free parking, a dress casual day or an additional day off.
• Travel like a cruise or weekend all expenses paid getaway.
• Items like t-shirts or items with the company logo.
• Trophies and plaques
• Financial rewards like gift cards or cash.

Getting Started with Your Own Employee Incentive Plan

Every company needs a way to thank employees for their extra efforts. Rewarding performance and behavior can take many forms so it may be difficult to determine where to start. This is where the guidance of a strong incentive expert will come in handy for your business.

Let’s start hammering out your incentive program today!

Incentive Solutions is a world leader in the design and effective implementation of incentive programs including employee incentive plans. We’re standing by to speak with you; simply contact us for a free consultation on how we can help you retain and support your best-performing employees!