A recent study of 4,800 employees in the UK, the USA, France, Canada and Germany found that reward and incentive programmes in the workplace provide clear return on investment (ROI) to the employer in all five markets. Over 80 percent of workers in the UK, France and Germany said that receiving a reward made them feel more valued and that knowing a reward is on offer would encourage them to put in more effort at work.
The vast majority (80%) of those surveyed said that they felt a reward programme would communicate to them that their work was valued.
In France, Germany and the UK the preferred form of incentive is cash but the actual incentive received is usually a store gift card – except for France where the majority received cash.
According to Ixaris, a company that develops prepaid virtual cards and who carried out the survey, giving cash is often simply treated as regular pay and so it doesn’t create “strong memories and associations with the behaviour that led to the award… As such there is less chance that the positive behaviour will be internalised”.
In an article in the 4 March edition of the London Times, Charles Orton-Jones reviews some creative non-cash incentive programmes used by companies to motivate their staff.
At PR firm Peppermint Soda there is a company allotment where staff can grow their own veg; the marketing company RMS holds group after-work yoga sessions; the tech giant Salesforce.com gives employees six paid days off work to work for charities; M&C Saatchi employees go on a creative adventure once a month with a £500 budget per pair; and Cirkle PR has ‘Birthday Roulette’ – the birthday girl or boy gets to spin a roulette table loaded with treats and prizes.
What incentivises you at work?
Does the company where you work offer creative perks or cash incentives, or both?