HASTINGS, Minn., July 9 /PRNewswire/ - An may seem like
the ultimate reward for goals achieved by diligent and effective employees.
Imagine, a week of exciting travel, with a different port of call each day,
and a chance to eat out three times a day (better make that seven times a
day).
But suppose you're a hard-working, high-performing sales rep who spends
week after week living out of a suitcase and eating restaurant food? Another
week away from the comforts of home is about the last thing you need. But how
about a state-of-the-art home entertainment system? Now you're talking.
"One of the major mistakes made by companies setting up reward programs
for performance improvement," notes Louise Anderson, president of Anderson
Performance Improvement Company (APIC), "is failure to provide rewards that
really are rewarding. And the only way to avoid this pitfall is to give people
a choice.
"When employees are able to choose among a big-screen television, a
bedroom set, diamond earrings -- and, yes, an -- it gives them
a chance to set their own goals," she says. "Rewards become a means to an end.
As people see their goal coming within reach, they can't wait to ask, 'What do
I have to do next?'"
Based in Hastings, Minnesota, APIC is a major player in the $117-billion
incentive industry, with custom programs geared to companies of all sizes. It
is an industry leader in developing high-tech solutions to employee motivation
and incentive award programs.
Not only does APIC offer effective, custom-designed awards programs, but
also offers a wide range of supporting award-fulfillment. It provides clients
with all-inclusive luxury travel, sports equipment, gourmet cookware, home
furnishings, photographic equipment, home entertainment products, and a
variety of other state-of-the-art electronics.
In addition to giving individual employees the option of choosing the
rewards they want, there are several other rules-of-thumb to use as guidelines
when offering incentives for improved performance. Anderson offers these
suggestions:
* Don't wait for final results-catch people doing things right and reward
them on the spot.
* Reward individuals as well as teams-generally, reward individuals for
behaviors and activities and teams for results.
* Celebrate! Especially, encourage teams to celebrate success together,
so that all team members have a sense of achievement.
* Avoid the cash-award trap-although awarding extra cash for performance
might seem to have universal appeal, as soon as you discontinue
offering it, employees perceive it as a cut in pay (with negative
impact).
"If companies are careful to match appealing rewards with carefully
structured programs, significant improvements in performance are virtually
guaranteed," says Anderson. In fact, APIC is so confident of producing strong
results that it does guarantee participating companies a return on investment
of at least 200 percent on performance improvement programs they install.
"But that really is a modest expectation based on our experience," says
Anderson. "In a great number of instances we enable clients to obtain ROIs in
excess of 600 percent."
For information contact: Carol Hadac, Anderson Performance Improvement
Company, 12181 Margo Avenue South, Hastings, Minnesota 55033-9437, 651-438-
9825, 651-438-9826 (fax),
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