In my last Insight, I discussed the different types of employee incentive plans a company can implement.
One of the many challenges a company faces is the difficulty of attracting and retaining good employees, so if a company really wants to keep up with or stay ahead of the competition, it really has to look at doing something that is going to set them apart. And employee incentive plans do just that.
Steps to Implementing Employee Incentive Plans
There are a lot of factors that should be considered even before an incentive plan is selected.
- First of all, a company should make sure that, at the leadership level—the highest level— they know what the goals and expectations of the incentive plans are. If this is an unknown, the first step would be to determine what those goals are.
- It’s important to ensure the goals are realistic and attainable; otherwise the incentive plans may have the opposite effect and can be detrimental to employee morale.
- With very good intentions, I’m sure, companies sometimes put goals in place that they think employees want without asking them first. So I think it’s important that companies involve their employees in the brainstorming process whenever possible.
- Next company leaders should ask themselves if the goals that have decided on will really get them to their ultimate, overall goal for the company. Is the employee really going to have buy-in in the well-being of the company? Or are they just going to make a buck or get something extra?
- After the goals are determined, then they should to be communicated to employees so that they’re fully understood.
- Is there one blanket incentive plan that all employees participate in?
- Another big piece to this puzzle that should be considered during the development process is the company’s culture. What is the culture now and how will employee incentive plans help move that culture up to the next level?
- Those goals should be monitored regularly and feedback given to employees so they are aware of how close or far they are from meeting their target.
For Example
I once worked with a client who put together a committee of employees that represented all of the company’s employees and that committee was in the process of developing some type of recognition/incentive program. They used to have something in place, but apparently not all the employees had buy-in to the program and it was something that, after a while, no one wanted to monitor it so it fell by the wayside.
Overall, I think their original program may have been too time-consuming for them, so we worked together to develop some other simple, non-time-consuming ideas for how they could successfully implement employee incentive plans. Some of the ideas we came up with included:
- Monthly recognition of employees
- Peer nominations for going above and beyond, which is a way for employees to recognize other employees
I recommended they do something simple that doesn’t cost much money, but that still allows employees to be recognized for the work they do. The committee decided to look at recognizing employees monthly and then doing something larger quarterly and on an annual basis.
Employee incentive plans don’t have to be extravagant or expensive, they can be something simple that truly recognizes and rewards employees. And the best way to get started is to go directly to employees and ask them:
“What do you want to be recognized for and how do you want to be recognized?”
Is it for a job well done? If so, what’s the best way to recognize that job well done? A great way to get this information is to send out an employee opinion survey that asks employees these simple questions.
Remember, employee incentive plans don’t always have to involve dollars—they can be simple, but meaningful, plans that help employee’s feel that they are valued members of the company.