Are Points-Based Rewards Programs Really Super Meaningful?

 

When a company budget only allows for nominal reward amounts like $25 up to per $100 person to incentivize or recognize employees, the typical award program options available to them are cash, points for awards and gift cards. Researchers have conducted many studies on the benefits of cash versus non-monetary rewards, but it is rare to find research to compare a points based reward system to other types of awards deliverable. In fact we’ve never seen one.  

The single biggest benefit of using a points based award system is being able to combine budgets from disparate departments, or over longer periods of time which allows the employee to grow their points account so they can redeem for larger more significant awards, and in many cases even travel.  When your total overall awards per employee is a less significant amount ex. $100 or $150 in awards, the excitement and motivation can wane especially considering the time between the issuance of the points and the redemption for a suitable award.

 Another benefit of a points based system is that it allows you to have a large array of award options in one place and promote them often.  Just make sure that if your assortment of awards includes very desirable and costly items that you have enough earning power in the program to be able to redeem for that item, and it doesn’t take an overly long time to earn those points. Check the average expected points issuance cost per employee during the program.  If that won’t allow the average employee to be able to redeem for 75-80% of the items in your catalog, your program is either underfunded or your award catalogs has too many high priced items.  Be realistic, it will save you a lot of complaints down the line.

 If you are going to implement a points based system, you need to be very diligent in your supplier search and be able to compare costs accurately.  Most award companies that sell their points system at low or no cost will make up that price difference making you use their awards in the system.  But those awards are usually priced unreasonably high compared to retail.  Everyone knows about the bank reward points you earn on your credit card.  But anyone you ask will also tell you that the prices of the award items in those programs are ridiculously high.  The best way to test the pricing is to look at the gift card section.  If a $25 gift card doesn’t cost you $25 in points issued, you are probably paying too much.

 Frankly points based systems can be the best type of incentive or recognition program you can implement, if you take the time to think through the steps above.  Here is a blog post we wrote a few years back that will delineate all the caveats you need to consider before you implement a program.  Don’t get caught up in thinking that a points based system will be the cure-all for your recognition needs. There are other ways.

Employee Health and Fitness Programs Will Save You Money

Consider the following:

 

Findings from 56 studies of worksite health promotion programs showed an average: 

• ·     27% reduction in sick leave absenteeism
• ·     26% reduction in healthcare costs
• ·     32% reduction in workers’ compensation and disability management cost claims
• ·       $5.81 to $1.00 ROI ratio 

In addition, with Wellness programs you win both ways: 

Michigan Research center estimates that your company can achieve substantial per employee savings when employees with low risk health remain low risk and when high-risk employee health risks are reduced.

The majority of employers with more than 200 employees now self-insure. When an employer self-insures, the company owns the "health-risk" of its population.

Effective prevention, wellness and improvement of the health of your workforce will result in your company increasing bottom line profits. Many experts agree that the current and future spending on employee health is not only unsustainable, but also poses a significant threat to the overall competitiveness of businesses within the global marketplace. 

Here’s a simple road map to build a great wellness program: 

Invite employers everywhere to participate and challenge them to create Healthy Moments, form Healthy Groups and then develop a timely Culminating Project. 

Healthy Moments are focused on the individual, and are occasions of healthy eating, physical activity or personal/environmental health. ​​ 

Healthy Groups are small groups of employees formed to create  sustainable activities throughout the year.​

Culminating Project is an event or series of events that promote health through the whole company or community. ​

Gift cards are arguably the easiest to use, most cost effective award to use in wellness programs.  They also provide exactly what your employees want. 

Following are some ways companies have used gift card awards to achieve objectives: 

• ·       Increase Program enrollment
• ·       Completing health assessments
• ·       Encourage class involvement
• ·       Achieve weight loss
• ·       Improve smoking cessation
• ·       Increase exercise
• ·       Complete program milestones
• ·       Encourage better reporting
• ·       Increase the use of fitness trackers
• ·       Help employees form “healthy groups”
• ·       Encourage sharing healthy eating recipes 

Wellness programs benefit employees by lowering stress levels, increasing well-being, increasing self-image and self-esteem, improving physical fitness, increasing stamina, increasing job satisfaction, and controlling BMI and blood pressure. 

If you don’t have a wellness program, start one today and watch bottom line profits increase. 

Incentive Programs Can Help Your Safety Program Succeed?

Traditional safety award programs were originally designed to decrease accidents and almost all of them rewarded employees based on the number of accidents reduced.  Unfortunately poor design, using team goals and lax supervisory attention lead to non-reporting of incidents by employees in order to get their awards.    

Today safety award programs are used to reduce the leading indicators of accidents and reinforcing other major components like training and education.  In any award program, a key first step is to challenge employees to participate in these programs, and here incentives play an important role.  

Other Ways Incentives Can Work For Your Safety Program 

Safety Incentives Change Behavior

Behavior Based Safety probably gets as much negative press from safety professionals as not.  For many reasons it’s just not well liked.  But like so many business strategies, it’s not always the strategy that’s at fault, but the implementation.  In its simplest form, BBS is the monitoring of safety behavior by management and peers and the reinforcement of those behaviors when they are positive.  When you use minimal awards reinforcing the behavior, you can turn it into a habit. Regrettably too many companies used these programs negatively, which does nothing to improve performance

Safety Incentives Promote Healthy Work Culture

Incentives can be used to motivate your workforce to enroll in wellness programs and then actively participate in them to achieve their individual results. They have proven very effective for this objective especially in gaining introductory interest.

Safety Incentives Engage Employees to Drive Overall Results

Safety programs are connected to your overall business goals because when your workplace is safe, there are reduced work-related injuries, burnout, and employee turn-over rates. Through communications, the right awards, surveys and other feedback mechanisms you can ensure that your safety program has high participation and engagement. 

Safety programs not only build a good safety record, but also help build your company culture and connect employees to the core values of your business. A successful program can also ensure a return on the investment, proving that when employees look out for each other, they also look out for the health and wellbeing of your business.  Allow you employees to participate in profits with year-end recognition events that will further strengthen your safety culture.

These Blunders Will Damage Employee Recognition Programs

We’ve researched hundreds of employee recognition and incentive programs over the years.   We often have prospective clients who say they have used employee recognition programs in the past and the programs just don’t seem to work for them.  They say they get relatively little return for their investment and these programs are often the first budgets to be cut when economic times are bad.  Frankly, in most cases executives are completely in the right to discontinue these programs.  

When recognition programs don’t produce desired results for your company the reasons why will typically fall into one of these categories. 

Track Your Performance

Lack of measurement is without a doubt the biggest mistake companies make when they implement an employee recognition effort.  Set the expectations of what you want them to do and then give honest measurement of how you are performing.  Not all recognition will have objective measurement, but surely the collective actions of employees against a set of values can be seen.  You can virtually follow the line between what was recognized and what happened because of that action.  It does take some effort, but the results of that measurement will be readily available when your executives ask you what you’re receiving for the time and money spent.  Anyone who sat in a budget meeting to retain or increase a recognition budget knows the importance of this.

Let Your Employees Choose What They Want

Don’t use awards that you think your employees want, or what appeal to you, or your executives or what your award vendor says they want.   Within reason, let your employees choose.  People are far more receptive when the award is what fits their own needs and wants, and that want can change constantly. 

Keep Everyone Informed

Good communications is the heart and soul of any great employee recognition/incentive effort. Showing what individual employees are doing to receive recognition makes it easier to motivate more employees to do the same. 

Involve Upper Management

We are constantly perplexed when company executives are not as involved in these efforts as much as possible.  If it wasn’t for the heartfelt work of the human resource professionals, many programs would wither and die. Executives stand to benefit the most from proud, enthusiastic engaged employees.  Get your executives to be your cheerleaders and provide ongoing involvement and enthusiastic support.  If you have any kind of spot awards, make sure they do some of it.