I'm feeling lucky to have so many choices and freedoms afforded to me in my life. We vote, are educated and walk freely down the street, dressed as we desire and say, basically, whatever we want. Just this morning, I chose what I was having for breakfast, how I wore my hair, what I wore to work, how I got work… and so on and so on. Choice, to me, is a personal and free selection of something. What I choose is not the issue, it's that I have a choice.

The same is true when assessing the rewards that should be offered as part of your incentive program. We all hear the phrase "Cash is King" but research shows that programs with non-cash incentives have better ROI than programs where cash is the only option. Why? We find that the ability to determine your incentive increases the participants mindshare and increased mindshare = increased employee engagement which = improved results.

In fact, research done on behalf of one of our clients found that a choice-based incentive program significantly increased the job satisfaction level of the participants. Our findings were that while only 17% of participants took advantage of the non-cash options, of those users that did select a cash option 77% said they would consider selecting merchandise or travel options in the future.

So, what does all this mean to you? Merchandise and travel options create an emotional context. Therefore, participants who have a choice, have an increased attachment to the program. That attachment improves their participation and the overall ROI associated with your program.

The US the loyalty and gift card market is worth over 22+ billion dollars, and the reason is that incentive programs work and choice makes them work better.

If I could only decide what to have for lunch…

Are you getting enough choices and fast fulfillment out of your incentive and recognition programs? Let me know.