INCENTIVES
Innovative ways to motivate your staff
Companies are investing millions of pounds each year on a startling array of motivational initiatives to keep their employees happy and give them the edge in recruitment and retention, reports Human Resources magazine.
According to one estimate, £ 1.5 billion worth of store vouchers were sold in the UK last year, with around 60% of that earmarked for business-to-business use as part of incentive programmes. And while the most popular form of incentive is still the voucher, with the ever-tightening labour market and the increasing need to focus employees’ attention on going that extra mile, there seems no bounds to what incentives employers are prepared to offer.
Incentives programmes run the gamut from hot-air ballooning to testing your driving skills in a tank, or, more innovatively , confronting great white sharks off the South African coast.
New buzz word: employee relationship management
Bhavna Mistry, writing in the current edition of Human Resources magazine, argues that the more enlightened companies are now starting to think about their employees as customers and are spending vast sums on staff satisfaction. The idea behind these incentive programmes is similar to the concept of customer relationship management.
As Mistry explains: It’ s all about creating a personal dialogue with the consumer, on the premise that keeping existing customers loyal is more cost-effective than seeking out new ones. That concept is being transferred to staffing and ERM — employee relationship management — is what it is all about now.
Vast range of alternatives
While vouchers offer a tried and tested route for those that can’ t decide , says Mistry, there are cost-effective options. The voucher is a quick solution, offering immediacy and a high level of flexibility, but some employers are looking at more imaginative ways to change hearts and minds.
According to Ranjit Thandi, marketing manager at Virgin Vouchers, memorable experiences are by far the most motivational rewards. He told Human Resources magazine:
Whatever the nature of the incentive activity — whether it be to increase sales, reduce absenteeism, encourage better time-keeping — the activity will aim to change employee behaviour. In order to do this, it must be inspiring and offer the chance to do something special.
Some of the incentives employers are adopting may seem off the wall , says Mistry, but it’ s worth remembering that the essential element about incentives is fun. It’ s a pat on the back for people who have performed exceptionally and a major part of creating effective incentives is proof that management has put in the effort to match the incentive to the team or personality.
Words of wisdom
Most of the commentators here are echoing Maslow, Mayo, McGregor, Hertzberg — the behavioural gurus who concluded that if you offer the right individual the right thing at the right time, you can effect behavioural and even attitudinal change. — Bhavna Mistry
Want to know more?
Title: If it motivates, do it , by Bhavna Mistry, Human Resources, October 2000.
Availability: contact Human Resources subscriptions in London, tel: 020 8606 7500 or email the editor morice.mendoza@haynet.com