What are employee incentive programs?
Incentive programs for employees are a way in which employers can thank and value their team members, through inventive initiatives that encourage gameplay and interaction via different platforms. Incentive programs for employees are one way that employers can demonstrate their appreciation for employees’ hard work, be that through instant prizes, gamification, or incentives that drive employee participation and natural competition.
Why are incentives important for employees?
Employee incentives can be used to great effect to bolster employee performance, recognition and engagement, particularly in sales teams, for example, where companies directly rely on employee performance to garner results. By not only thanking employees for their hard work, but further offering incentives to meet and exceed their targets, companies can demonstrate that they believe in their employees and support their growth as individuals, too.
Employee engagement goes beyond a team lunch these days; employees expect recognition, opportunities to grow, and further participation that demonstrates that they’re valued. Employee recognition goes a long way, and can be the difference between an employee staying and nurturing a role for years to come, and upping sticks and leaving after 18 months.
The sooner employers recognize that employee incentives and engagement are the golden tickets to success, the quicker company success will come.
How can incentives improve employee performance?
Incentives can bolster employee performance as companies demonstrate how much they value their employees. In return, you will gain employee loyalty, a drive to perform well and exceed expectations within their role in the company.
Similarly to how a company can invest in their employees, employees can invest in a company. Employees will sense that they are working for an organisation that puts career progression and employee wellbeing and satisfaction at the heart of their decision-making process, and will reward a company by staying loyal, working hard and going above and beyond in terms of work ethic, output and effort.
So, now we’ve explained how important employee incentives are, which are the best employee incentive programs?
We’ve done the hard work for you and narrowed down a list of the best incentive programs for employees for companies below.
Top employee incentive programs
1. BeeLiked
BeeLiked offers specifically tailored incentive programs for employees that can be personalized for each team member. Its unique reward program allows employers to create personalized experiences with rewards specific to individual teams, including sales teams.
Automation is at the forefront of BeeLiked’s reward package, with the option to create a promotion tailored to your brand. The best part about it? The entire program is fully managed for you. BeeLiked manages the promotion period including gift vouchers, prize giving and email automation. This means companies can focus on driving the business forward, safe in the knowledge that their employees are being looked after.
2. Perkbox
Perkbox is an all-around employee experience, focusing on employee engagement. Offering a platform with multiple solutions, with Perkbox you can motivate employees with rewards and recognition. From celebrating milestones, to employee rewards and invoking some healthy competition, Perkbox provides a platform that promotes employee interaction to encourage teamwork, as well as individual success.
3. TapmyBack
TapmyBack does exactly what it says on the tin, in that it provides a way for employees to support each other and tap each other’s backs. Again, the key focus of this platform is to recognize employees’ hard work and reward this with feedback and other forms of recognition. Team motivation and workplace performances are the key focus of this fun and motivational app, which allows users to ‘tap’ employees for a job well done. Timely and continuous employee feedback, as well as seamless integration with Microsoft Teams, Slack and Chrome, make TapmyBack an easy and simple way to start valuing employees overnight.
4. Guusto
Guusto is an employee incentive program that focuses on improving employee culture through recognition and rewards. Guusto makes it easy to inspire great performance with a holistic approach to benefitting employees only, rather than other parts of the business. What’s more, Guusto donates 1 day of clean drinking water for every gift sent, again highlighting the importance of giving back at every possible opportunity.
5. Kudos
This incentive platform for employees is pretty much self-explanatory from the title; it allows employees to give Kudos for a job well done, promoting peer to peer recognition. As well as encouraging employees to support and motivate one another, the platform also offers incentives in the form of employee rewards. Kudos helps to keep employees on track to avoid turnover, and is easy to use and intuitive, integrating easily with existing software. From digital gift cards to third party rewards to custom rewards, you can choose a package to suit your business needs.
6. Blueboard
Blueboard is an incentive platform for employees offering experience rewards, enabling companies to recognise their employees on a large scale. Blueboard makes it easy to quickly send employees unique and personalized experiences, be that experiences to enjoy at home, such as a DIY garden package, or an adventure experience such as river rafting or glamping. Blueboard goes one step further with tangible rewards, and it’s easy to see why it’s so popular!
7. Kazoo
Kazoo prides itself as a company that creates a growth orientated culture with its employee incentive program and recognition platform. Kazoo’s solutions offer alignment, engagement and increased performance, with feedback and ongoing conversations a key factor of their platform. Kazoo will design a solution that fits your needs, while also ensuring employee recognition and reward are at the heart of the program they create for you.
8. Bonusly
With an engaging interface, a fully interactive experience and an extensive digital rewards program, Bonusly is another popular employee incentive program offering custom solutions for companies. Available in a mobile app, Bonusly features include automated recognition for milestones and birthdays. With detailed reporting and company-centric solutions, Bonusly can improve employee engagement and productivity without a hefty price tag.
Want to get started? Book a demo with BeeLiked today to discover more about our rewards program, specifically tailored to you and your employees.
