Incentive plans should not be misconstrued as a means to motivate your team. You first need to build concrete goals and then inspire your team to reach each goal with conviction. It is imperative to communicate overall firm goals with your team. Group and one-on-one meetings provide an opportune time to discuss and evaluate strategies to reach each goal. Allowing your team members the opportunity to contribute to the overall success of your firm will instill motivation, confidence and passion that incentive plans cannot do on their own.
Before implementing an incentive plan, make certain your team members are fully engaged and committed to the position they hold at your firm. This will mean you, as a manager, must realize offering an incentive plan will not magically transform a disengaged team or team member. In our blog, “Learn How to Make an Employee Incentive Plan Effective,” http://aeschlapia.wordpress.com/2012/04/03/learn-how-to-make-employee-incentive-plans-effective/ we stressed the importance of being a good manager by guiding your employees to work on what is most important and then implementing an incentive plan as a reward.
Employee incentive plans are a significant component for firms wanting to stay competitive and on track with the pace of evolution in the workforce. You will need to do your homework for your plan to be effective:
- Recognize all factors that affect your team’s behavior.
- Look at the type of culture you have in your firm.
- Understand each of your goals and the processes you will use.
- Develop a measurement system for each goal.
At Ironstone, we have found many employee incentive plans simply don’t reap their intended results because they were implemented for the wrong reasons. Don’t be fooled in believing that an incentive program will counter poor behavior, performance or disengaged team members.
Start your incentive plan after you have managed your employees to the level of being:
- Engaged
- Passionate
- Productive
- Loyal
Once your team is instilled with the qualities listed above, you can implement your incentive plan by including the following critical elements:
- Identify your desired activity/goal
- Develop the tactical plan and how employees will work toward achieving each goal
- The amount of time allotted to obtain each goal
- The reward for achieving the goal
Remember every aspect of your plan needs to be measured to ensure the program’s success in achieving each goal. Make sure your firm’s strategic goals are concise and specific which provides team members a clear understanding of what is expected from them.
Goals should be challenging, yet achievable. The incentive plan will be destined
for failure if goals are interpreted as being unattainable.
A successful incentive program requires that each feature is suited to your team members’ interests. Find out what motivates your team. Adapting each element of the program to fit your team will provide you with engaged participants and enhance the effectiveness of the program.
Ironstone can assist you in strengthening relationship management at your firm which will lay the foundation needed to implement a successful employee incentive program.
Readers, we are curious! What are your thoughts on employee incentive programs?
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