Incentive Programs

Incentive Programs

Posted by admin on Mar 25, 2009 in Blog, Promotional Products | 0 comments

In the current economic climate, it is more important than ever to ensure that you are getting the most out of your workforce. One way to do this is through incentive programs. These programs use rewards and/or gifts to motivate employees and recognize outstanding performance.

If incentive programs are not already part of your organization, consider this. A recent article in the Harvard Business Review (March-April 2000), “Leadership That Gets Results,” reported that of six leadership styles studied, the use of rewards was the single highest predictor of “organizational climate,” which in turn had a direct correlation with financial results. In other words, organizations with incentive programs make more money!

So why are incentive programs so effective? The answer is grounded in behavioral science – specifically, the years of research that have proven that positive reinforcement can produce behavioral change. And behavioral change is really what we are talking about here. Whether you are trying to motivate your sales force to increase yearly sales, seeking to reward efficiency on the part of your employees, or looking to reward customers for their loyalty, in each case what you are really doing is trying to encourage a particular behavior. One of the most effective ways to do this is through positive reinforcement, defined as “the offering of desirable effects or consequences for a behavior with the intention of increasing the chance of that behavior being repeated in the future.” (source: dictionary.com)

Incentive programs are an easy and tangible way of introducing positive reinforcement and motivating employees, customers and other partners. However, to be effective, incentive programs must be designed in such a way that the reward is meaningful to the greatest number of people.

For this reason, Joshua Klapow, Ph.D. (associate professor in the Department of Health Care Organization and Policy at the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Public Health) suggests that the best incentive programs are those that allow each individual to determine their own reward. These point-based programs allow individuals to redeem their points for a wide variety of prizes. Conceptually, the greater the number of options for rewards, the more likely the program is to have an impact.

Perhaps the most well known example of a point-based incentive system is the Amex Membership Rewards Points program. If you have an American Express card, you know what I’m talking about. For every dollar you spend, you earn a point. You can redeem your points for everything from cash cards (a cash equivalent), to gift certificates, merchandise, travel rewards, and experiential rewards. The program is extremely successful precisely because of the variety of rewards it offers – no matter who you are, there is something in it for you!

Here at Quintain Marketing, we offer a variety of rewards programs that incorporate the same kinds of incentives used by companies such as American Express. And believe it or not, the programs are fully scaleable and therefore appropriate for not just large companies like Amex, but smaller firms as well. Why not give us a call to find out how we can help you incorporate an incentive program into your corporate environment?