Gift Of Giving

By Caitlin Crawshaw - OHS Canada, March 2011

Many companies invest in programs to recognize and reward workers’ performance, although few agree on exactly how to unlock the combination of measures that will meet individual and company goals. When it comes to incentive programs, there are likely as many different permutations as there are different companies.

Adam Rauch is president of One Line Sports Agency, based in Bayside, New York, which organizes special outings as incentives for workers who have met a host of achievements. Rauch suggests the residual effect of an incentive is that it can build momentum for future incentives.

Group Function

Asking how employees would like to celebrate their achievements makes good sense to Alan Quilley, a consultant in Sherwood Park, Alberta. Tangible gifts may be alright, he says, but has found that, more often than not, workers prefer a social experience.

This is a view shared by Rauch. Last year, his firm facilitated a special event for a Canadian tech company looking to recognize its staff. The employees attended a private reception on a rented barge before going to the Toronto International Film Festival as VIPs.

“We find that people want to hold onto a memory or experience. If you give people cash, they’ll spend it on their electricity bill or tipping the doorman, and won’t remember it,” he says.

More than some, Rauch supports the element of surprise. “It’s like the phrase, ‘There’s too many cooks in the kitchen.'  If you ask people what they’d want as an incentive, you’re going to get a thousand different answers,” he says. “Sports and entertainment cuts across all genders and ethnicities,” Rauch adds.

Events also prevent employees from not using their rewards, unlike a points-based incentive system. If employees do not redeem their points, he suggests there may not be the intended boost in motivation.