Positive Incentive Ideas
The "carrot and stick" approach is an old one in the business world, but many workplaces are veering away from negative environments emphasizing discipline, punishments and reprimands in favor of positive reinforcement. Incentivizing positive behavior can help businesses acknowledge employees who consistently exceed expectations for performance. Not all positive incentive ideas work for every workplace; reviewing different possibilities can determine which makes the most sense for your company.
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Benefits
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Positive incentives reinforce desired behaviors for companies, but they also perform other valuable functions. Programs boost engagement among employees, encouraging them to look for new ways to meet goals. Desirable incentive programs also help attract quality employees. Over time, some positive incentive ideas (such as recognition programs) can become an honored part of the company culture.
Key Attributes
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For positive incentive programs to work, employers should already have an idea of focus areas for employee improvement. Rewarding workers for behaviors that already exist might encourage employees to discontinue these behaviors once the positive incentive program ends. Quantifying behavior lets employees know specifically what they're working toward; for example, you might set a target sales goal or reward the employee who brings in the most new clients in a particular amount of time. Employees must also be interested in the incentives at stake, or there's less motivation to work toward stated goals.
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Cash
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Cash is one of the most basic positive incentive ideas. Companies might award a $500 bonus to employees who master a new software system, attract new clients, negotiate the most contracts or successfully handle customer service claims. Another way to handle cash incentives is to offer a percentage reward rather than stated monetary amount. For example, your highest-ringing bartender might get to take home 10 percent of her sales on a given evening.
Travel
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Some employees relish the idea of travel as an incentive for meeting company objectives. Employers can sometimes get discounts for booking larger groups for rewards trips, reducing overall costs for the incentive program. Keep in mind that some employees have families, so receiving one airplane ticket to Hawaii might not seem like a tempting incentive. Travel vouchers might be another option for this incentive idea.
Goods
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Employees can also incentivize positive behavior with goods, such as watches, stereos, mp3 players, tickets to sports games or gift certificates to local restaurants. This incentive works well with high-dollar items such as flat-screen TVs or laptop computers; employees may feel less inclined to increase productivity for smaller rewards or rewards to which they're not specifically inclined. For example, not all employees want a set of golf clubs.
Privileges
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Offering privileges to excellent employees is a low-cost way for employers to create incentive programs. Preferred parking, lunch with the CEO, flexible hours or time off can make employees feel special without incurring high costs for the business. Flexibility makes the incentive more personal; employees may enjoy choosing between taking Friday off or coming in late every morning for a week.
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References
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