Incentive and Motivation Resources and Articles
Cash Loses, Merchandise and Travel Win Big Basic incentive programs involve either merchandise or travel-related awards. The 1999 study sponsored by The Incentive Federation estimates that American businesses spent $27 billion on merchandise and travel for motivational use.  Another type of incentive is cash. However, cash as a motivator is an unemotional award...More ROI Incentive Programs: Driving People, Driving Profits Brian O'Hare will be the first to admit his impression of incentive programs was not a positive one. "I used to think incentives were about going to an island and having a party, and my company didn't need that. I didn't take incentives very seriously at all," says O'Hare, managing partner for Perspectiva, an architectural engineering firm headquartered in El Paso, New Mexico. But that perception quickly changed after The Business Group, Inc., a Rocklin, California-based incentive marketing company introduced O'Hare to the concept of Return on Investment (ROI) incentive programs....More 10 Steps to an Effective ROI Incentive Program While each ROI incentive program is unique, there are planning and implementation steps common to all. The following were gleaned from interviews with industry experts, as well as from ROI Incentive Marketing, published by The Business Group, Inc....More
Ability + Motivation = Behavior You don't have to sell me on the idea that incentives motivate people, or that they direct behavior. I know that ability + motivation = behavior because I have a background in the incentive industry and I know that incentive programs work.  But you do have to sell buyers in corporate America on the psychology of motivation, and this step is the precursor to selling an incentive program to an end user.... More Reward with Awards How Merchandise Incentives Can Improve Morale, Retention, Recruiting, and All Around Good Will Southwest Airlines may be best known for the company's wacky CEO, Herb Kelleher, or the company's ever-present spot on Fortune magazine's 100 Best Companies to Work for in America. But what most outsiders don't know is that even though the company received well over 140,000 applications last year, many of the airline's workers come from employee referrals.... More Incentive Federation Survey of Motivation and Incentive Applications 2003 Results At-a-Glance -- Incentive program planners say merchandise incentives and travel incentives are more compelling than cash; Sixty-eight percent of respondents say bonus payments can have a negative impact if they are not paid or are not large enough; Three of five respondents say merchandise or travel is preferred because they are more like a gift; Three of five respondents say that a cash payment is perceived to be part of an employee's total remuneration package....More
Corporate America Ready, Willing, but Unknowledgeable About Using Online Incentive Programs A recent survey has revealed an increasing reliance on Web-based technology to motivate employees, salespeople, and customers. The survey’s respondents – 171 sales, marketing and human resource managers at corporations that use incentives – indicated that motivation programs will increasingly be conducted online. Yet surprisingly, those same managers indicate they feel ill-prepared to take full advantage of the technology’s potential.... More Primer on the Federal Income Tax Treatment of Incentive Awards Section 274(j) of the Internal Revenue Code, enacted by the Tax Reform Act of 1986, provides, in general, that an employer may deduct the cost of employee achievement awards given to the same employee up to $400.00 in any year. If the incentive awards are employee achievement awards made under one or established written plans or programs of the employer, the $400 deduction limitation is increased to $1,600.00 per employee...More
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