During a conference call the other day, I was speaking to a new client that was trying to formulate a list of goals for improving workplace safety, increasing sales, developing company and employee referrals and providing excellent customer service. With such a variety of reasons employees could earn points, the incentive program committee felt overwhelmed in setting firm objectives for the program and establishing a list of goals. Incentive goals can vary wildly within a program but should always target specific areas that need improvement or better consistency.
To develop incentive program goals for your organization, I recommend three steps: break out your target audience(s), list out the areas you are looking to change and then ensure your goals are aligned with your overall business strategy.
To begin, I advise clients to list out the groups of people you are looking to aim the incentive program at and identify goals to reward each group for accordingly. For example, one company might have several divisions that they would like to develop goals for such as a Sales Department, Customer Service Center, and Manufacturing Facility. Each division will need to be analyzed and have areas of improvement identified. Once these areas are identified you can more easily decide upon what goals will improve those areas when achieved and plan the framework of your program accordingly.
No matter what type of group or division is being awarded, the most successful employee incentive program will award for both standard, long-term goals that are always relevant as well as short term goals are introduced or rolled out as they become relevant need to be focused on. As your organization grows and develops your overall business strategy will evolve and you will identify new program goals to highlight. I urge every client planning implementation of a successful incentive program to evaluate program goals and make adjustments as necessary on at least an annual basis in order to make sure the program is achieving its objectives and continues to be relevant.
Following these steps can really help the overall thought process that goes in to composing a list of incentive program goals and will make the program more successful. Check back for part 2 of this article, which will break out specific examples of program goals, on Thursday.
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