Incentive Games and Bonuses for Your Employees
The two most common types of rewards given to employees by their employers are bonuses and incentives. Bonuses are typically monetary rewards, while incentives have more intangible rewards. Dr. Jordan Sudberg, a pain management specialist, is an employee incentive program expert.
Incentive programs are sometimes designed as general categories instead of specific plans that can be measured. These comprehensive programs encourage the employees to work harder, but they may not motivate all employees because they do not offer particular rewards or compensation.
Incentive Games and Bonuses for Your Employees
1. Their Intrinsic Motivation
Incentives to employees do not come from the amount of money provided. Instead, incentives should be designed by recognizing the differences in a person’s work level and identifying ways to bring rewards directly from these differences. People generally like extra money, but when it comes to recognition for their work, they get satisfaction from working harder than someone else who does not receive a reward. The company should match its efforts so that an employee would be motivated to do even more than before. For example, if an employee works overtime for the company by five hours a week, the incentive could be $5 an hour more pay at the end of the year.
2. Their Motivation
A percentage of an employee’s salary can be given as an incentive payment. The extent to which the prize will motivate him or she depends on the nature of their work. If the employee’s job requires relatively little research, he will work less complicated and therefore receive less incentive. In this type of incentive plan, an employee would only receive a small portion of their salary if they worked extra overtime hours, for example, 20% of the additional hours to be paid at $5 an hour. The rewards should be evenly distributed between all employees with similar jobs to keep motivation high across the entire organization.
3. Their Understanding
Incentive payment plans can only be made with the cooperation of employees. Employees should understand the rules for when they can leave jobs and how their work will be measured. They should also know how many payments they will receive during a given period and what percentage it would be of their salary. Once they understand these rules, they can feel motivated to perform well. One way to improve employee motivation is to involve them in putting together incentive plans so that they are more confident in selecting rewards.
4. Their Salary Increases
The incentive payment plan should reflect increases in a company’s overall salaries by a factor of no more than two times per year until the target level is reached, usually about 40% of employees. It will keep an incentive program from becoming inflationary.
Incentive plans can lead to loyalty if the amount of money is commensurate with the work. Most people would be satisfied with an increase from $7 to $10 an hour, while those who work a more challenging job may expect a much greater reward. An incentive plan should have flexibility in its payment amounts so that employees will feel free to leave a company because they cannot receive the full payment.
The intention of an incentive bonus or award is to recognize employees for their achievements. Dr. Jordan Sudberg says although monetary recognition gets most people’s attention, companies should pay attention to the other benefits of giving awards to their employees. It can increase camaraderie among the workers and make them feel more dedicated to the company and their jobs. These benefits are essential when retaining good employees that are vital to any organization.