Points Programs

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6 Tips for Implementing a Successful Employee Incentive Program: Part One

While at the SHRM show a couple of weeks ago, I picked up some literature from The Hay Group. Among the white papers I read over on the way home, and thanks to the two hour delay at McCarran, I found some good points for implementing rewards programs. The white paper titled, Managing Reward Why Line Managers Are the Vital Link, was written in 2008 but the ideas still hold true today. I would like to share each point along with my comments on each one to assist readers in implementing an effective and successful incentive program.

1. Don’t leave the job of implementing reward programs solely to HR.

While a Human Resources department may consist of more than one person, more people no matter the size of an organization should be involved in the planning and implementation stages. I suggest that you gather feedback from those who will be participating and earning rewards in the program and find out how realistic your goals are, what other goals should be included and what kinds of rewards your participants would be motivated by.

The second group of people you should consult with is the managers who deal with the participants of your upcoming incentive program. When you bring in others for advice, they are much more likely to accept the program and feel that since they helped create it that they are invested in its success.

Lastly, look to the reward program provider you partnered with for feedback and ideas on how to plan and set up your incentive program. Experienced providers should be able to take a look at what you have decided on with the assistance of participants and your managers and provide insight on what could be improved.

2. Use line managers to communicate the intent and rationale of the reward program to employees.

When a new incentive program kicks off or is launched in a new location, I like to prepare a variety of media to communicate the program and send this to line managers. The management is then able to use the different pieces in meetings to help get participants familiar with the program. Depending on participant preferences a totally different approach may be taken. Some managers may feel that electronic notices will work find for their employees while others may decide to keep printed award catalogs around and have me run monthly account statements that can be printed and distributed to workers.

I also try to schedule training sessions with HR and managers to introduce the incentive program websitethat participants will be using and also the administrative website. By demonstrating the user website to those interacting with employees, managers are better able to help people log in for the first time, find out information about the program and how to use the website along with placing an order. Our administrative website is very user friendly but until one sees its capabilities demonstrated, I have found people are less likely to use it. The line managers that attend these training sessions will have a better understanding of an incentive program and be able to answer questions from employees.

A lot of time needs to be put into the communication of an incentive program. The Hay Group found that “employees tend to trust the information that they get from their line managers rather than from senior managers or HR leaders.” Line managers work closely with workers and need to have resources available to them if the reward program is going to be successful.

3. Ensure that HR makes the goals of the reward program clear and easy to understand.

When the goals of an incentive program are clearly tied to the goals of the organization, it is easier for managers and employees to see what activities need to be completed in order to both earn rewards and also make an impact on the company. The clearer the understanding of the reward program goals, the higher the return on investment will be.

While preparing proofs for a client last week, I received numerous changes in the language being used due to the feedback received from a few line managers. My contact, who works primarily as a safety coordinator, asked her managers to look at an order form, poster, flyer and catalog. While the safety coordinator knew that LTI stood for Lost Time Injuries, the managers asked to have this acronym spelled out for employees who may not understand the goal of “No LTI”.

Check back next week for the conclusion of my review of The Hay Group’s white paper.

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