What are the features of a good employee incentive strategy?

Pay raises and promotions are not the only ways anymore by which you will inspire your employees. Read on to find out a few more creative approaches.

Entrepreneurs and business owners are perpetually dealing with two massive staffing issues: attracting exceptional talent and then retaining it. 

We all want capable, well-rounded employees for our companies. No matter how specialized the role you’re hiring for, versatility still usually tops the qualifications list. It’s also something employees themselves value more: if you don’t give your staff various new challenges, they won’t grow professionally and may begin searching elsewhere. 

To push employees to do their best in every part of their job, organizations need to be more proactive—creating opportunities for their team members to excel and rewarding them for when they do.

Here are five methods to keep employees motivated and productive at the same time. 

• Offer an “IDEA BOUNTY”

Employee incentives include bonuses, which can come in many forms. A great way to encourage discussion is by giving all employees an equal opportunity to contribute. Employees propose a fully fleshed out idea (with processes) that would help improve the business. 

Then the team members can vote for the new strategy, and if the founder approves the voted idea, then that employee can receive a reward for “idea bounty.” To build this program into your company’s culture, you can start a healthy competition by tracking the number of “idea bounties” awarded to a single employee within a certain period.

View Diagram 01: are the features of a good workflow connecting Employee Incentive Program verification gates and percent of eligible employees qualifying for an incentive

View Diagram 02: are the features of a good governance scorecard and Incentive Program Manager approval flow

As shown in the diagram just above, our employee incentive program enforces eligibility gates at each step so lift in target kpi vs baseline (productivity, quality, attendance) stays aligned with finance rules.

• Switch up the workday

Not everyone thrives in a nine-to-five environment. For hourly employees, try to replace the structured workday schedule with a list of tasks to accomplish within a set window, and then leave it to the employees to figure out the best way to achieve them.

Try to replace the structured workday with the task list’s plan to accomplish in a set period. Employees tend to work better once they feel a way of accomplishment, and untimed daily to-do lists will facilitate and boost their potency and confidence.

• Blow off steam on-site

Offering free yoga and gym space within your office building is a great idea! Lots of companies currently provide on-site yoga, but you will go more than that. Why not try teaching your workers some fun dance moves?

Bringing extracurricular activities into the geographic point helps break up the monotony and may produce exceptional team-building opportunities.

•  Encourage creative time-off

Inspire your employees to spend their paid day off by doing something creative. Dan Novaes of Nativ is an advocate of the unlimited vacation policies that are gaining steam in some quarters that encourage creativity and a sense of freedom driven by performance.

Another unique option is to offer paid time off specifically for volunteer service. Introducing extracurricular activities into the workplace helps to break the monotony of work life. 

Offering a combination of flexibility and accountability that requires being very clear about what responsibilities and expectations we have for employees who utilize our flexible paid time off policy. As long as everyone knows what they’re accountable for, taking time away from the office is something to be encouraged.

• Offer equity (but not in the way you think)

Offering equity to your best employees is not a new concept. Still, many CEOs have found a way to put their spin on it by providing equity that increases the company’s valuation. It will encourage employees to work harder to make the company worth more. 

Offering an ownership percentage to your key employees, which is activated upon the company’s sale, is also vital to make your employees feel more strongly towards their firms. Consider what your five-year plan is for your company and implement it accordingly.

The entrepreneurs cited all the above points to attract and retain top talent in meaningful and sustainable ways.

What’s more, is the steps that they’ve taken to give incentives to their employees are all specific to their own unique business cultures and company’s needs. The key is to find out what’s right for your company and your employees.

Our report on current employee incentive trends will help you to gain more insights.