
The good thing about incentives for employees is that they help motivate people. And if your company needs to grow, produce better work, be more efficient, and have a more engaged workforce, employee incentives should certainly be a line item on your balance sheet.
Keep in mind the current workforce is stressed, burned out, and lonely. All these contribute to disengagement, turnover, and low morale. However, it is essential that you understand what incentives for employees entail before deciding on the next step of action.
To put it plainly, incentives for employees are monetary or non-monetary rewards, like points or gift vouchers. They are designed to motivate and engage employees. Striving for ambitious goals, managing tight deadlines, or improving efficiencies are all scenarios in which an incentive could be a valuable investment for a company.
It is worth mentioning that incentives are most effective when aligned with your company values since you can reward the kind of effort and behavior you want to see more of. They are also offered throughout the year to offer consistent boosts of motivation.
Aside from motivating, incentives encourage and coach. You’d be surprised to learn that incentives for employees help reduce turnover improve morale and increase productivity. If this is not enough, they are designed to reward and help retain high-performers who repeatedly do good work throughout the year.
It is worth mentioning that incentives alone won’t lead to better performance for the employee or the company. After all, you get the most value of incentives for employees by pairing them with recognition. It is incentives combined with recognition, affirmations, and praise for the task completed that contribute to ‘improved performance,’ in terms of both quality and quantity of work.
An important distinction for companies to make when considering incentives for employees is to view them as investments rather than expenses. Underinvesting in your recognition program, however, has the potential to weaken the recognition experience for your employees.
Now that you know what incentives for employees entail, why not consider making it a priority while running your business?