When it comes to employee incentive programs, there are many options available. Yet to measure success and motivate your workers most effectively, you need an incentive program backed by strategy. How do you create a winning program? What strategies are important? To answer these questions, here’s a look at different ways to make incentive programs effective. To create an incentive program that works, this is what you need to keep in mind:

1. Know the goal. No incentive program can be effective without a clear goal in place. Ask yourself why you’re running your program. What do you hope to accomplish? To view your program as successful, what would need to happen? Whether you’re looking to drive a certain number of new sales or to improve overall customer service ratings by a specific percentage, make your goal specific. Knowing what you’re aiming for is crucial for understanding how to reach it.
2. Know what employees want. You may think you know what rewards would motivate your employees, but have you asked them? Before assuming you understand what someone desires, you should always do some research. Hold a meeting, run a survey or create a brainstorming session in which you discuss ideas for employee incentives with your employees themselves. Learn what they would find motivating. Ask what they’d consider worthwhile incentives. This simple exercise can yield rich rewards in terms of boosting your business strategy.
3. Make it simple. The more complicated your incentive program, the more chances that it won’t work. You want your employees to understand what you’re offering and why. You want them to know how to achieve success. No matter what your goal or what your rewards, communicate them to your staff in a clear, concise, understandable way.
4. Reward many times. While one big reward is good, many frequent rewards are better. In other words, you want to find as many opportunities as possible to reward your employees. When there’s only one chance of earning an incentive, employees can feel unmotivated to try. If there are many opportunities, however, they sense there’s more of a chance to succeed.
5. Reward many levels. Just as important as multiple rewards are multiple levels of rewards. Rather than only awarding honor to the top earner or the No. 1 performer, look for ways to reward multiple levels on your team. Another option is to reward anyone — no matter how many qualify — who meets a certain metric or goal.
6. Reward publicly. Public recognition is powerful because it uses peer pressure and the power of the group to motivate individuals. Instead of keeping rewards on a private forum or record, make everything public. Whether you use a physical board in the office or an ongoing email campaign to the company, make rewards a badge of honor to those who earn them.

 
In terms of employee motivation and business achievement, incentive programs are incredibly useful. When you get your team members moving toward your own business goals, you move your entire company toward being more efficient and effective. To make the most of your incentive program, stick to the six tips above! By thinking strategically and carefully about your program, you can reap the greatest rewards.

Author bio: Julie Feece is Vice President North America - Marketing for RPG Card Services, a sales and marketing organization specializing in offering gift card program services to nationally recognized retailers for their B2B and B2C programs. She has held various leadership roles in the incentive gift card industry for over 17 years.