Employee incentive programs can be a strong motivator in the workplace. They help to improve employee productivity, job satisfaction, and overall morale. Some incentives, like workforce training, further improve employee fulfillment. In the short term, incentives help employees do their best every day. In the long term, incentives motivate employees to progress in their careers.
Boosting employee productivity
Incentivizing your employees can be a great way to improve productivity in the workplace. Hardworking employees, motivated by rewards from employers, often reach their goals.
Incentive programs to boost productivity should begin with clear objectives. Make sure employees are aware of their own goals — and the incentives at stake. Each employee should also have access to any tools they might need. Company contributors should feel empowered in their own responsibilities, with the resources they need and a company supporting their efforts.
Healthy competition in the workplace can help further boost employee productivity. Employees can participate in incentive programs where top performers receive prizes. As employees compete, productivity levels rise.
Quality vs. quantity: balancing the metrics
The best reward programs incentivize employees to do their best work. Defining “the best,” however, can prove difficult from department to department. Some employees deserve recognition for their performance quantity.
For example, a company might recognize the sales or leads they generate. Other employees demonstrate success in the quality of their work. They might work hard to respond quickly to customer support tickets. It’s important to track the right performance metrics for employees individually, or per department. This helps determine how employees best contribute to company outcomes.
Allow employees to provide feedback when identifying the right performance metrics. Ask leaders in your workforce to explain how they measure success. Make sure to balance short-term metrics like sales with long-term growth figures.
Enhancing employee morale and job satisfaction
Incentive programs recognize employees for their high-quality efforts. This makes employees feel appreciated by their employers. Over time, incentives can create a loyal workforce, where morale is high as employees work for rewards.
Over time, a company’s investments in employee morale can also improve the workforce. Incentive programs help reduce turnover and their high associated costs. Employees are more likely to remain with a company that values their efforts, particularly when their employer reinforces that value through rewards.
Implementing technology in incentive programs
Technology can be a powerful assistant in monitoring employee performance. Many companies already use technology to track performance metrics like revenue and sales. You can also use technology to monitor project updates, customer feedback, and compliance. These metrics and others should all factor into employee incentives.
Beyond sales-specific figures, many companies already use technology to track fleet-wide performance. This sort of tracking helps improve communication, operations, and customer workflows. Together, this technology makes it even easier for employees to perform well. The company succeeds and employees earn their incentives.
Accurate performance tracking
It’s also important to make sure tracking is accurate within our company. Technology makes this step simple, pairing employees with data that enables smarter, faster decisions. With access to real-time information, employees can also fix problems, communicate, and provide immediate feedback. Each of these benefits helps create a more efficient workforce.
Technology-assisted performance tracking can also save employees a great deal of time. Instead of tracking their own output, they can now focus solely on the quality of their work. This form of automated performance monitoring also removes any human bias from the tracking process. Technology can record, store, and protect information for later review.
Personalizing incentives with data
Tracking data with technology can create happier, more motivated employees. For example, your company can use data to analyze employees’ performance patterns. You can also use technology to track customer feedback and overall efficiency. Use this information to inform a personalized incentive program for each employee.
Personalized incentives do more than improve job satisfaction and productivity. They can also help improve happiness. When you use data to identify what motivates each employee, you can create individual incentives that each employee truly enjoys.
Designing effective employee incentive programs
To build a great employee incentive program, start with your company’s most valuable asset: its employees. Talk to your company’s contributors about what motivates them. Make sure they also explain what frustrates them at work. Identify any resources that could improve their efficiency. Work to understand their most important short- and long-term goals.
Once you better understand your workforce, you’ll be capable of recognizing your employees’ contributions. This allows you to align incentives with company goals. For example, if your company has specific sales targets, try aligning incentives with those goals. Employees will receive rewards when they achieve sales numbers that satisfy internal targets.
Setting clear objectives and criteria
The right workplace motivation can improve job satisfaction, morale, and performance — as long as goals are clear. For example, you can make goals specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound — the SMART goal framework. SMART goals are concise and attainable. They provide a clear roadmap to completion, helping employees understand how to accomplish them and earn their incentives.
This stability helps employees feel like they’re in control of their own goals, incentives, and careers. They feel empowered to overcome obstacles and use internal resources as tools to unlock rewards.
It’s also important to explain, to all employees participating in the program, how incentives are earned. Make sure program rules are transparent, and available online or in a public workspace for reference. This accessibility gives everyone an equal opportunity to achieve rewards. Make sure to also discuss any limits on incentive earnings.
Regular evaluation and adaptation
Employees, their goals, and their motivations change over time. Make sure to regularly evaluate your employees’ thoughts on your incentive program. Consult their feedback to determine what they think of the process and the prizes you offer.
Take time to adapt your program based on the feedback, and real-time employee performance data, you receive. This might mean adjusting your reward structures, setting new objectives, or offering resources like training or coaching.
