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Rewarding and recognizing employees is more important than ever as employers struggle to keep employees motivated and engaged in a work-from-home environment. Reward choices matter. In any economy, the right rewards can make a lasting impression on your workforce and increase the return on your program investment.

Gift cards have been gaining in popularity, for personal use but also for use in employee reward and recognition programs. Studies continue to show that tangible merchandise is a far better motivator, that delivers greater long-term results. Why then do some companies choose gift cards to reward their employees or customers?

The Incentive Research Foundation (IRF) recently published their Trends report for 2020. The trends in incentive, rewards & recognition programs for 2020 include:

Sounds easy enough, right? Any time you hear that a company tried an incentive program and “it didn’t work”, it’s likely that the company managers tried to design the program on their own. Designing effective employee reward & incentive programs is not as easy as it sounds.

Companies with defined incentive, reward and recognition programs enjoy a higher market share, lower turnover rates, a more highly engaged workforce, higher productivity and a host of additional benefits, so it makes sense that an increasing number of companies are turning to these programs. But very few company leaders know which reward vehicles work best, understand the legal tax and regulatory issues involved, or employ staff with relevant experience to properly design programs. Yet, despite this, many still attempt to do so using in-house resources.

What is the perfect reward for employee recognition programs that target performance in areas like safety, wellness, customer service and training?  Let’s start by defining what we mean by “perfect.” The “perfect” award would be one that is both highly desired by the award recipient and one that will easily be remembered by that recipient for a long time to come.  Without that in mind, let’s first consider what award structures do not work (and yet are still commonly used):

Studies and experts confirm that companies with higher employee engagement are more profitable, have lower turnover, higher shareholder value, greater productivity and more. Companies with a positive corporate culture enjoy higher levels of employee engagement and better attract and retain talent. In the years since these initiatives have surfaced in corporate America, Human Resources has typically been charged with both increasing employee engagement and building a positive corporate culture. Are these initiatives better suited to the Marketing department?

The concept of industrial athletes was born in the last decade or so and refers to those who employees who make their living using their knowledge, skills and abilities to perform a job that often requires physical demands. The term industrial athlete is accurate as defined because there are definite similarities between what we normally think of as an athlete and an industrial athlete. How are you supporting the industrial athletes in your company?