17 Mar
5 Ways To Run A Fair And Unbiased Incentive Program
Posted in Synergy Suggestions on 17.03.15 by John Meloche
Not everyone likes award shows. “I never watch them,” commented one of our clients yesterday, “I’m really not into being told what the ‘best’ this or that is. I have my own opinion. And honestly, none of my favourites ever win anything so I can’t be bothered to watch any of that stuff.” Evidently, the Grammys, the Oscars and even this past weekend’s Junos aren’t for everyone. In some cases, it just seems as if they’re “playing favourites”.
This is why it’s incredibly important to be fair and honest when providing awards to your staff members based on their performance. In yesterday’s blog, we revealed a few statistics about how beneficial it can be to offer incentive programs at your workplace. Tom Armbruster of UniTwin.com warns, however, that you should avoid bias at all costs. You don’t want to alienate any members of your staff.
“Employees will be watching carefully to ensure that all co-workers are treated fairly,” he writes, “It should go without saying that favouritism, cronyism and nepotism should be avoided at all costs. Whatever strategy you use to choose your award recipients it should be based on merit.” So what you should you do to ensure that your incentive program treats all employees fairly and equally? Armbruster offers up some sound suggestions. Here are five.
1. Have a specific goal. When your employees are receiving their awards, they should know exactly what the awards are for. Therefore, it’s important to outline specific goals that you wish for your staff members to achieve. “This goal should be especially meaningful to your organization, this may mean that you want to encourage teamwork or innovation, or maybe you want to improve the safety of the workplace by encouraging employees through a recognition program,” suggests Armbruster.
2. Acknowledge tenure. In yesterday’s blog, we pointed out that awarding performance over tenure is most effective. But that doesn’t mean that you should avoid acknowledging those who have worked for you the longest. It’s important to recognize the contributions of your longest-standing employees. “While this doesn’t have as tangible of an effect on productivity, it will encourage employees to stick around if they see that the senior employees are being treated well,” Armbruster insists.
3. Make everyone eligible. As mentioned, your reward program shouldn’t serve to alienate anybody. Everyone should be given the opportunity to benefit from the incentives that you offer. You’ll end up getting more productivity out of it. “Make sure that your reward program uses an open-ended, quota-based, or piece-rate structure,” says Armbruster, “This will ensure everybody has a chance at success and will therefore encourage more people to actively participate.”
4. Allow for choice. Perhaps, the best way to motivate your staff is to allow them to decide what the incentives for their efforts will be. Getting to choose your own prize is a great way to inspire a worker to be productive. “Consider letting employees choose their own rewards, based on a previously constructed options list,” Armbruster suggests, “This may end up saving you money in the long run, and will encourage employees to participate because they can work towards something they are guaranteed to want.”
5. Make it easy on yourself. Your rewards programs should be fun when it’s all said and done. Your mission is to boost employee morale and increase productivity in the workplace. It should be an enjoyable venture for all those involved. “A major complaint in workplaces that do provide reward programs is that they are not implemented properly,” Armbruster informs us, “A program’s success and return on investment depends on how well it’s operated so be sure that you’re tackling something you can handle.”
Call Synergy Marketing at 1-877-748-9884 to order the promotional gift of your choice today. They often make the best employee rewards!
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