Employee incentives serve to spur employees to greater heights of achievement, by offering them something (in addition to their paychecks) that fires up their competitive spirit and ambition. Incentives can be anything from a gift card to a trip to an exotic locale for a team-building retreat and plenty in between those two poles. What do employee incentives consist of at work? Let’s look at the four recognized categories of incentives to find out more.
Your employees love to be recognized for a job well done. It makes them feel valued and important. Being publicly recognized before their peers is the best form of recognition incentive, as the work being acknowledged is a point of pride. Public recognition also gives employers an opportunity to speak to their employees with few words. The praise they’re giving the employee being recognized sends a strong message about what kind of work you expect from your people.
Raises, bonuses, stock options and profit-sharing are all ways employers incentivize their employees. But the effect can be fleeting. Money is a great thing to have more of, but it doesn’t get you the respect of your peers. While compensation is important, it’s an Old School answer to incentivization.
Travel incentives are currently being used by more than 3/4s of US companies. This type of incentive can be combined with team-building, networking and intramural skills enhancement to create added value. There’s a special kind of magic to being recognized for stellar work by being sent on a trip to a place you’ve always wanted to visit. As employers increasingly recognize the genuine value of travel incentives, they’re devoting between $3,000 and $4,000 to travel incentives per employee. The effect is enhanced productivity, employee engagement and retention.
Gift certificates, gift cards and similar rewards to recognize employee achievement are an effective way to both reward your people and to make it clear to other employees that you expect the best from them. Referral bonuses, which reward employees for matching open positions at your company with candidates in their network, can also be highly effective and add value to finding the right fit, by encouraging employees to scout talent among those they know. That’s a win for everyone. Smart incentives bring your employees together as a team, which increases productivity. Recognizing the work of your top people encourages those down the food chain. Incentives send the message that you’re an aware employer, who genuinely wants to develop the people on your teams. The effects on retention are also undeniable and solid employee retention reduces needless expense occasioned by turnover, as well as the disruption of teams and departments.
Incentive Travel Group has been crafting incentive programs for companies like yours for more than 20 years. We’re an outsourced solution to employee incentives that expands your capacity, while offering you logistics and travel incentive excellence. From planning through booking and execution until the moment you touch down at home, ITG is with you. Contact us for more information.
