Majority Not Happy With Employee Incentive Programs

While incentive programs have a big impact on employee productivity and retention, many employees are unhappy with their current programs, according to a recent poll by St. Louis-based Maritz Research.

The study reports that, of the 1,002 randomly selected employed adults surveyed, 55% are not happy with their incentive programs. However, the Maritz Poll also found that incentive programs, when done right, can be extremely impactful on employee performance and attitude.

"The fact that more than half of respondents were unhappy with their incentive programs coupled with the greater importance of these programs to younger employees should be a major concern for companies," said Jane Herod, president of Maritz Incentives, in a statement. "With younger workers more willing to change jobs, and the improving economy, companies are at risk of high turnover, which is an issue that employers have not seen in several years."

According to the poll, 66% feel that an incentive award program strongly/somewhat affects their future/continued employment at a company. That figure includes 74% of the 18-34 year olds polled and 57% of the 45-54 year olds. Also, 68% agree that additional award opportunities would motivate them to be more productive at their jobs, with a stronger level of agreement from the younger employees (79% of 18-34 year olds and 60% of 45-54 year olds).

Results also show that 44% of respondents receive communications regarding program guidelines only at the start of the program. Only 33% of those respondents said they were happy with their program versus 66% who received communications weekly.

In addition, 39% of respondents received feedback regarding their progress within the program only at the very end of the program. Only 29 % of those respondents said they were happy with their program versus 61% who received feedback weekly. And 73% of respondents agree that they prefer to choose from a variety of awards rather than receive a pre-selected item.

For more coverage on research