Your company has many different resources. And without them, your business will falter and cease to operate. This is why you need to take care of your resources the right way. You need to make sure that they are always in good condition. If there’s a problem, address it right away. Among the most critical resources of your company are your employees. These are people who have feelings, needs, and desires, so you should take care of them the right way. And what better way to do it than showing appreciation.
There are many ways to show appreciation to your employees. One of them is giving incentives. Incentives are also designed to motivate employees or increase productivity and morale. If you are looking to come up with an incentive program, here are some pointers that you need to keep in mind:
Go beyond bonuses
The most common type of incentive that most companies give is cash. But this is not an absolute rule. You can always be creative and go beyond money and the expected forms of rewards. For one, you can offer a flexible schedule on a day that your employee will choose. Some companies even provide gadgets and tickets to movies theatrical presentations. But if you want to plan something big and exciting, you can have corporate incentive trips. It will entirely depend on you, but you need to push your creativity so that you will be able to create variations.
Have some parameters
Some incentive programs are designed to recognize the hard work and effort of employees. And face it, not everyone in your company puts in much effort. This is why you need incentives; you are encouraging people to work hard so that they will get it. But for the matter of fairness, you should have some parameters. This will allow your employees to know and understand what needs to be fulfilled.
Ask for suggestions
There will be occasions when you run out of ideas for incentives. During this time, it is vital that you seek the help and advice of your employees. You can ask them for suggestions; after all, it is they who will benefit from your program. You can have them e-mail their ideas or go old-school by leaving a drop box outside your office. Just have a filter for the suggestions so that it will be much easier for you to narrow down the best ones.
Set a budget
Speaking of filters and narrowing down your options, one of the factors that you will need to look into is the budget. You should set aside a monthly budget for this. Your budget will dictate the type of incentives that you are supposed to give away.
Overall, incentives are not just a form of rewards. These are the things that you ought to give from time to time to show employees your appreciation. In one way or another, these will validate their importance to your organization—something that employees will certainly accept.
