IRF Research: What keeps employees motivated?

Personalized rewards can make the reward program qualifiers different.

A new incentive research foundation research, Non-cash value perception: identifying critical points, It is shown that while higher monetary value rewards can promote motivation and participation, other factors may be equally important or even more important to reward recipients. The 500 respondents conducted in September and October 2024 were full-time employees who were eligible for participation in non-cash reward programs within their organizations. They represent a variety of salaries in a variety of industries and have positions such as retail sales partners, insurance agents, financial consultants and operations, IT and administrative professionals.

“Whether it’s using travel, merchandise, gift cards or points, the value of non-cash rewards is in the eyes of lovers,” said Stephanie Harris, president of IRF. “The value of motivation and impressing rewards may be Not the same impression as the owner of the car dealer. New research from the IRF helps inspire professionals to determine the “sweet spots” of rewards with the expected effect.”

Four key points:

The value of a reward depends on a number of factors. The types of incentive plans, from achieving sales goals to achieving customer satisfaction, and whether the plan is employee or channel-driven, affect the reward value. Participants in employee programs are more likely to participate in sales goals, customer satisfaction, customer service, and loyalty-based rewards programs. Participants in the channel program are more likely to participate in employee recognition and work anniversary rewards programs.

Reward value is related to performance motivation. In all cases of the IRF study, the percentage of participants who reported that they were willing to participate in the program and put in extra effort to achieve their goals also increased as the monetary value of the incentive program increased. However, there is a threshold beyond which further increase in reward value no longer leads to significant growth in participation. Likewise, even substantial rewards do not always attract all potential individuals to participate.

Non-value-related factors can greatly increase the attractiveness of incentive programs. Respondents believe that the personalization, clarity and realization of the goals, as well as the diversity and flexibility of the reward products, are used to enhance value. Some programs that reflect these factors receive higher ratings than large rewards.