You’ll usually see some better results from your incentive programs when you measure how well they work. Remember that when you put some money into rewarding your team, you’ll want to know if it’s making a difference. Taking the time to track your program’s performance helps to turn your good ideas into real benefits for your bottom line and workplace – this can give you a clearer picture of what’s actually helping your business grow.
Your program checks should always look at different areas like performance numbers, money returns, and general team satisfaction. When you keep tabs on these parts, you can normally learn what’s working and what needs fixing. In my experience, businesses that do well don’t just hand out rewards – they also look at who’s participating, what they’re getting back for each dollar spent, and what their people are saying. Try asking your team directly for some feedback to make your incentives even better.
When you get skilled at looking over your incentive programs, you can build something that helps your company grow steadily over time. The small habit of checking what works can give you some big gains in how your business performs in most cases. You could be surprised at how just a few changes based on your findings can improve your team’s energy and your results.
The numbers will tell you the real story behind your program’s success. When you see your business growing and your team becoming more involved, looking at the data helps you understand why. What can you learn from the patterns?
Let’s find out!
Evaluation Metrics
Do you want to know if your incentive program is actually working? Try looking at the numbers that affect your bottom line.
You can check if your sales have gone up since you started the program. Most businesses see their revenue climb when they get their incentives right. You should also track what you’re spending compared to what you’re getting back.
Money isn’t the whole story with incentives, though. Beyond sales data, you should see how your team feels about their work recently. Employee engagement might not be as easy to count as dollars. But it matters just as much. Try sending out some quick surveys to get a feel for job satisfaction. You might find that people are sticking around longer than they used to.
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As a next step, look at how people actually join your program. If participation is low, your incentives generally don’t connect with what your staff wants. Look at the behavior changes, too. Are your team members following the safety rules? Maybe they’re finishing their projects on time more often now.
You’ll find evidence of your program’s success through productivity numbers. Keep an eye on items like how much gets done per hour or what the customers are saying. These figures tend to move up when your incentives hit the right note. The quality gets better when people feel that their best work gets seen.
Try tracking how long employees stay with you since you started giving better incentives. When you replace people, it costs quite a bit of money and time. Your program might pay for itself if it helps prevent your talented team members from leaving. In general, businesses find that they save more on less turnover than they spend on the incentives themselves.
Just remember to compare your latest numbers to where you started before the program. The difference will show you what results your incentives are having. You need the “before” and “now” data to see the full picture.
Set Clear Incentive Objectives
You need to have clear goals before you get started with an incentive program. Without them, you won’t know if your program is actually working for you. Think about what you want your team to do more of in their work. Do you want them to sell 15% more products? Or maybe you’re just hoping that people will stay with your company longer instead of leaving.
The thing is, your goals need to be clear so your team members understand what they’re going for. Vague targets like “improve customer service” don’t give much direction to anyone. Try something like “cut back on customer complaint calls by 20% this quarter” instead – this gives everyone a clear target to work toward together.
Always try to use real numbers to measure your goals. Without any data, you’re usually just guessing if results are better over time. Look at the items you can count – sales figures, customer ratings, or how employees perform. The numbers tell you the real story of your program’s success at the end of the day.
Just base your targets on what your team has done before. Nobody gets motivated by impossible goals. Check your previous results and set benchmarks that stretch people without making them give up. People tend to work harder when they believe they can actually reach the finish line.
In practice, connect your incentive goals to what your company wants to achieve. If your company is trying to break into a new market, focus your incentives on getting new customers there. When everything points in the same direction, you get better results all around for everyone.
Set a deadline for your goals when you can. Most people tend to be more helpful with a timeframe in mind. Choose if you’re looking for improvements each month, quarter, or year. Having a deadline can give you a healthy sense of urgency and help to structure your program better.
Many businesses out there often create incentive programs without any clear goals. They give out rewards but can’t explain why – this wastes money and leaves your team confused about goals. Without helpful goals, your team might chase items that don’t matter to your business in the long run.
Financial Impact Analysis
You’ll want to know if your incentive program is actually making money for your business. Not all programs will pay for themselves at the end of the day. That’s why checking your return on investment generally helps you see the bigger picture.
Check if your sales or revenue went up after you put your program in place. Also, compare all your numbers from before and after. Did your team close more deals once you started giving them that bonus? Any increase in revenue could be coming directly from your incentive program.
Remember how much money you could be saving, too. Maybe fewer of your employees quit after you started giving them better rewards. You can figure out how much you saved on hiring and training new people. In reality, these savings can add up fast, but they often go unnoticed.
Make sure that you add up everything that your program costs. Count the rewards themselves, the hours that people spend running the program, and any software that you need. You can’t usually tell if you’re coming out ahead until you learn about what you’re spending on it.
Thankfully, calculating the ROI isn’t too challenging. Just take what you’ve gained and subtract what you’ve spent – divide by what you’ve spent and then multiply by 100 – this can give you a percentage that shows how well your investment has paid off. When you see a positive number, your program is bringing in more than it costs you.
You’ll find that some benefits aren’t so easy to measure in dollars. A happier workplace might normally mean that people get more tasks done. Try tracking how much each person accomplishes before and after you start the program to see these less obvious gains.
Look at how other businesses like yours are doing, too. If similar businesses see a 10% return on their incentive programs while you’re at 15%, you’re ahead of the game. Remember that comparing yourself to others helps you become aware of whether your results are actually successful or not.
Without a doubt, watch how all your numbers change over time. Most successful programs actually get better as they get established and people get used to them. Of course, if you see your returns starting to go down instead of up, you probably need to make some changes to get things back on the right track!
Incentive Program Challenges
Most of the incentive programs run into the same difficulty – people just don’t join them – this generally happens when the rewards don’t seem fair or don’t match what your employees actually want from you. You might see some of your team members feeling left out or becoming less motivated because of how your program works.
Financial problems can throw off even the helpful incentive plans that you create. If you don’t set aside enough funds for them, your rewards might feel too small to get anyone excited about participating. Your team can spot an underfunded program when they see it. They tend to see it as just going through the motions instead of valuing their hard work.
Just remember that you need to have clear ways to track how well your program is doing, or you’ll end up guessing if it’s working. Get some standard feedback from everyone who’s involved. Businesses often skip this part and miss their opportunities to make their incentives better before small problems grow into even bigger problems.
Your company’s culture changes how people will respond to the incentives you give. A competitive reward system usually won’t work well if your workplace values teamwork above all. Make sure that your program matches the values you already promote in all other areas. Maybe your team will notice if these values don’t line up, and they might start to question your sincerity.
Some of these programs create too much paperwork and extra work for everyone involved. Your managers might spend more of their time tracking numbers than actually leading their people. Team members waste valuable hours filling out forms instead of doing their real jobs that matter. You want to make your program easy so everyone can understand it without unnecessary complications.
You should watch out for the surprise problems that can come up with these rewards. People often focus on tasks that earn them incentives while setting aside other important work that needs attention. Your team members might stop helping each other if they’re competing for the same limited rewards. Some might even bend the rules or take shortcuts to hit targets with their bonuses.
In my experience, the programs that work best in general address these possible problems during the planning stage. Think about how your people might respond to the different reward types you offer. Check in with your team to catch any problems early on. Basically ask them directly what would motivate them most – their answers might surprise you.
Level Up Your Incentives and Rewards
You can learn quite a bit from other businesses’ experiences with similar programs.
Other businesses tend to face the same challenges that you might encounter – like keeping people involved or giving rewards that your team actually finds worthwhile. These common problems help you plan better services before any setbacks crop up.
Keep in mind that your latest program is running now. Some parts probably work much better than others already.
All helpful programs usually change and grow alongside your business over time. You should check in on your program every few months to see how it’s doing for you. Ask yourself if you’re still focused on the right goals and if your rewards still motivate your team enough. When you make some small adjustments based on what you learn, it works much better than just waiting for something to break completely.
Creating and running these programs takes some time and knowledge that you might not have available in your company. Fortunately, that’s where we come in to help. At Level 6, we help your business do even better through different types of incentive programs. We help your sales team sell more and also make all your employees happier at work. We have branded debit cards, employee recognition programs, and sales incentives that can fit what your business needs. We build custom programs that actually work for you.
Do you want to see how we’ve already helped other businesses to improve their results? Just get in touch with us for a free demo.
Claudine is the Chief Relationship Officer at Level 6. She holds a master’s degree in industrial/organizational psychology. Her experience includes working as a certified conflict mediator for the United States Postal Service, a human performance analyst for Accenture, an Academic Dean, and a College Director. She is currently an adjunct Professor of Psychology at Southern New Hampshire University. With over 20 years of experience, she joined Level 6 to guide clients seeking effective ways to change behavior and, ultimately, their bottom line.
