Incentive Programs

Employees work as they were told to do. This is not to say that they are lazy, they just do not see the need to do more. After all, a good work and an excellent one will not affect the figures in their pay slip. So if you want to tap excitement to your employees, make them perform well, increase their motivation level, and let them bring out their full potential, create incentive programs.

Steps in creating incentive program:

1. Create a structure – Structure is important to avoid miscommunication. This will allow you to define properly the important details of your incentive program.

a. Set a goal. Ask yourself, "Why do I need to have an incentive program?" "What do I want to achieve." Being able to answer these 2 questions will place your program and direction into the right place.

b. Compute the expenses. Set your budget at 2 to 10% of the projected sales increase.

c. Pick a reward. Good reward is something that employees should strive to achieve and to look forward to. Pick a reward that meets all your employees' eyes. One most common incentive is cash bonus but there are also other popular choices such as merchandise, gift certificates, and travel packages.

d. Keep it short. The gap between winning and receiving should be short so that your employees are continuously motivated to perform well. The ideal gap is between 4 and 6 weeks.

e. Keep it simple. One reason why incentive program ends up in a disaster is that those who create it make it too difficult to achieve or too complex to understand. If you want to make an incentive program that works, keep it simple. Make sure that the employees can understand it well. Do not ask for too many requirements that will result to loss of interest among employees. The simpler the incentive program is, the more effective it becomes.

2. Communicate. An important key to the success of an incentive program is having your employees understand its structure. This will tell them what they need to do, what to expect or receive when they reach the goal, and when to expect it. How to properly manage to achieve the incentive is important as well.

Do not just leave a memo explaining about the incentive program. You have to talk and explain every detail to your employees. But, you don’t simply tell them, "this is the program and you need to achieve this and that to receive this and that." You need to explain thoroughly. Different people have different interpretation on the words you say. Make it clear. Better yet, make a good easy to follow guide on how to arrive at the reward. If you fail to do so, the performers before the program are the same people who will able to receive the reward because the rest will not care.

The bottom line is: Every employee should understand what the incentive program is all about so that all are motivated and will participate.

3. Reward and Recognize. Reward and recognize the performers all the time, in front of the group. This will boost their energy to do more next time. This will also motivate others to do more as well. The result: both your business and your employees will benefit to the effects of implementing a good incentive program.

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