Your first step is to understand is that sincere recognition, regular engagement and motivation are the best ingredients in creating a more positive behavior from staff members and employees. Its more than just compensation. This, in turn, will impact your organization's performance.

1. FAQ#1 "How can I best set goals for my employee incentive
program?"
Q. What are the best ways to set goals for my incentive program?
A. It's NOT a guessing game!
Your first step is to understand is that sincere recognition, regular engagement and motivation are the best
ingredients in creating a more positive behavior from staff members and employees. Its more than just
compensation. This, in turn, will impact your organization's performance.
Incentive programs must be designed with knowledge of the different age groups/generations that work for you.
age
This can be especially important with your service awards initiatives. Your rewards strategy should clearly honor and
acknowledge employee efforts and achievements. Developing an effective incentive plan can be as individualized as
your organization's culture. In choosing your recognition and rewards approach consider what motivates employees
to excel.
When asked, most employees will suggest to you they want cash but research shows cash is not an effecti reward
effective
because it has no "trophy value". Case studies show that giving cash doesn't work and ultimately becomes a waste of
company resources. Giving cash may also have negative tax implications. (Check with your tax expert.) When you are
ready to set your performance goals here are some specific steps you will find helpful.
The first excellent action to take is to determine your Performance Criteria. Performance Criteria are simply the
areas within your company you want to improve upon. What are some performance criteria? In actuality they can
include any area that you deem worthy of improvement. Better attendance, increase employee retention, improve
wellness programs, more sales, better customer service, safety etc. Next is to determine what guidelines or rules do
you have in place to judge the quality and level of these improvements.
e
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2. Does the achievements of your team warrant employee appreciation awards? Is retaining your valued employees a
high priority? Do you want to improve your service awards programs?
Although many organizations understand the importance of soliciting the assistance of a p professional incentive
expert, beginning this process can start with an in
in-organization mini-brainstorm session involving colleagues or a
brainstorm
select group. Select participants who can bring a fresh perspective and knowledge of current conditions in the
marketplace and your target audience.
Make your ideas/goals session a fun event. Have a pizza lunch with your goals team. Go out to dinner and pass
around the hat for your participants to throw in their ideas. Optimize your efforts by keeping it upbeat for every
everyone.
As you attempt to identify your objectives, keep in mind the importance of linking them to market conditions and
your company’s overall goals.
One example might be improving your sales force's product knowledge level. In today's competitive environment
making sure your team has great knowledge about your products or services will dramatically improve sales.
dramatically
As you start to form specific objectives, make sure they are workable. Compile a list of the suggestions you receive
and at some point share your improvement goals with other managers and employees. It could prove very
productive to also ask all employees for their ideas. Your workforce will be enthusiastic about your goals if they feel
o
valued and an intregal part of the process. Any employee ideas you implement should be recognized and
rewarded.
Remember that achieving your performance criteria goals must measurably increase your organization’s value or
ROI. So again, the help of an incentive expert will go a long way toward saving you considerable time, money and
will
stress.
As you start to form specific objectives and areas for improvement make sure they are workable.
Make sure your goals have some of these characteristics that will make them more effecti
effective.
They should be:
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Taico® :: 67 Patterson Village Ct., Bldg F :: Patterson, NY 12563 :: 845
845-228-GIFT (4438) :: fax: 845-
-228-5136 :: info@taico.com
© 2012 Taico® Incentive Services Inc.

3. CLEAR AND EXACT. Choose just one or two clearly focused goals, so program participants can channel their efforts
effectively. For example, instead of saying, “Improve safety,” state your goal as “Reduce accidents by 30% percent
between specific dates such as: November 2012 to July 2013.” The same for any other performance criteria you may
have decided on. Instead of saying, "Improving attendance" set your goal for 100% attendance and reward this.
TRACKABLE RESULTS. Be sure your goals involve quantifiable activities that can be measured easily. Implementing a
user friendly, point based, on-line program can make this easier and provide trackable ROI. As an example, some
line
ways to quantify success include tracking a salesperson’s progress by measuring the increase in sales or profits.
REACHABLE ACHIEVABLE GOALS. It is tempting to set the bar high, hoping to achieve dramatic improvements and
excite everyone in the process. Overly ambitious goals however can backfire and seem unattainable to the
n
participants in the program thus demoralizing them.
To create realistic goals, take past history and preset conditions into account. Step by step goals work best!
RELATABLE. To be meaningful and have a long lasting impact, the goals you set should fit within the overall
ABLE.
objectives of your company. This means checking that your goals are in step with your company’s direction. Is
cutting costs a priority? Or is the company investing resources in the hope of achieving long
long-term growth and
competitiveness?
GOOD TIMING. Take into consideration any seasonal highs and lows that occur in your business during the period
chosen for the incentive. Example might including a company Holiday trip or related award.
Holiday
Consider too, some of the hidden factors that will engage and motivate your people to do their best. Placing a heavy
emphasis on sincere recognition and again be aware of the generation differences in your company. Determin
Determine
which incentives work best for the different age groups in your company. What will they find most motivating to
them. Stay away from cash rewards they have no trophy value and are quickly forgotten by the recipient. Ask for
employee ideas on recognition and service award events and create a list. Maybe company or department parties,
informal lunches etc.
TIMED. Take into consideration any seasonal highs and lows that occur in your business during the period chosen for
the incentive.
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Taico® :: 67 Patterson Village Ct., Bldg F :: Patterson, NY 12563 :: 845
845-228-GIFT (4438) :: fax: 845-
-228-5136 :: info@taico.com
© 2012 Taico® Incentive Services Inc.