According to the Towers Watson 2013 Staying@Work Survey, U.S. employers ranked work-related stress as one of the biggest risks to employees’ health.
Data from the survey shows that while employee sentiments reflect a desire to be guided, paid fairly and supported professionally, employer priorities are elsewhere. This disconnect can serve as the perfect platform to remedy the situation incorporate employee recognition into merit incentives that build worker loyalty and closes the gap between company and individual needs.
Here are three different recognition-based incentive compensation strategies that can help lessen stress factors and boost mental and emotional health of employees:
- Cash reward: Companies often have discretionary funds that can be distributed to employees without increasing their annual pay. The U.S. Office for Personnel Management recommends cash awards stay between 10 and 20 percent of salary depending on the level of employee performance. This is an ideal incentive that can be built into an employee’s professional development plan or as part of a team or individual sales competition, then tracked through incentive compensation software.
- Quality step increase: When employers incorporate quality steps into an employee’s position or as part of a development tract, they can recognize and reward employees who go above and beyond their required duties. This tactic not only motivates employees to work harder to achieve pay raises faster, but helps employers retain workers who have more than adequate skills.
- Referral bonus: A referral bonus program is a great way attract talent. This is another mutually beneficial incentive plan that offers perks to employees who either garner additional talent for the employer or acquire more clients for the company. Often, employers build in risk mitigators such as a specific amount of time or certain milestones new employees or clients much reach before the employee reaps the rewards of their referrals, prompting the worker to pursue those they feel would benefit the company long-term.
All of these plans can be managed through ICM software, a streamlined program that allows employers and employees to configure fair rewards with outstanding performance.
According to an employee incentive study, more than half of U.S. companies utilize incentive compensation programs and invest more than $100 billion in them yearly through a multitude of creative and innovative strategies.
Data indicates that companies that use ICM software have elevated overall profits, sales numbers, customer loyalty, employee productivity and ROI than their counterparts.
