When companies decide to start an employee incentive program they always run into this question. Do we give a cash incentive or a merchandise incentive? While cash is easier to administer and most employees will say they want it, cash may not be the way to go. Which is better for your company?
If you give cash as your employee incentive program award, there is only cash value. The majority of people do not like to say how much money they make. While a cash incentive is not included as part of an employee’s salary, it can quickly become part of that category to an employee. Also, while you may look at it as the employee can use the cash for whatever they may want, most of the time it will go towards bills or other necessities. Tangible items, on the other hand, have a value beyond what they cost. The employee will not view their tangible item at cash value. They will view it at the value they get out of it or the value they feel it has. This value is often beyond what the item cost. Our employee incentive programs allow your employee to choose from up to 120 items in one catalog. All of our catalogs together hold 1400-1500 items at any given time. The value for the item will increase because they want it and chose it.
An employee incentive program that uses a merchandise incentive gives your employees an experience as well. Imagine getting a cash incentive. You check your bank account and the number increases or your handed a check. With a merchandise incentive program your employee gets to look at many different items and place their order. If you use Awards Network for your employee incentive program you can have a customized website that your employees can log into and chose an item. Overall, the gift and experience will give your employee’s more value than cash.