Professionals in the HR industry note the effectiveness of rewards programs, especially for small businesses. And, a number of small business owners have seen the benefits.
Ken Sweet, an executive director at GPS (a management consulting firm) advises that incentive programs initiated in smaller businesses foster increased sales and enhanced competition among the workers.
This is important information in light of the ‘slow to recover’ economy. The economic climate may put a damper on a sales team’s motivation and growth. This in turn will have a direct affect on the company’s bottom line. Having rewards and incentive programs in place, or initiating them have been proven to increase employee motivation. Higher employee motivation in turn helps increase productivity and revenue, which generates expansion opportunities for the company, notes Sweet.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that employee productivity jumped 2.3 percent during 2010’s 3rd quarter. Having effective incentives in place for 2011 will further encourage and motivate employee, thus increasing productivity.
In line with these statistics, the Office of Advocacy of the Small Business Administration reported that between 1993 and 2008, close to 90 percent of small company jobs created “came from existing small businesses.”
“Productivity-based excess profit incentives are a win-win-win strategy for the business owner, his employees, and our nation as a whole,” Sweet explained. “As small businesses become more productive they can expand, hire more workers and help drive incomes higher to bring back the healthy spending we need to keep our economy growing.”
