As much as any boss or manager would love to work with a team of driven self-starters, it’s often not the case. What to do then? How do you go about motivating a group of people who you know is most likely showing up to work only to keep paying their bills? It’s not easy, that’s for sure.

Perhaps you’ve heard of the psychological terms ‘negative reinforcement’ and ‘positive reinforcement.’ Negative reinforcement is the reinforcement of desirable outcomes with actions rooted in fear, such as punishment, shaming, or physical abuse. Positive reinforcement, on the other hand, is the reinforcement of desirable behavior with incentives, such as monetary bonuses, praise, and social acceptance. Do you have any idea which type of support is more likely to give you a hard-working team?

If you guess the latter, you’re right. Research shows that positive reinforcement will often generate more desired outcomes than negative reinforcement. It makes sense, then, that this theory would apply, if not flourish, in the workplace as well. But how exactly can a higher-up implement positive reinforcement to motivate his team.

Three words: employee incentives programs.

Employee incentives programs are the corporate version of a carrot on a stick. Well, a solid gold carrot that is. Your paycheck is most likely the regular carrot. Whatever kind of carrots are involved, it doesn’t take away from the fact that there are a lot of fabulous programs like these that get employees taking action and contributing more wholeheartedly to their company.

However, one question that remains is, how effective are these programs? The statistics are promising. Ninety percent of big-name companies already use employee incentive programs, and for a good reason, as 80 percent of employees would prefer incentives over a bigger paycheck. Moreover, 78 percent of employees are willing to stay in their current positions thanks to the fabulous incentives and rewards programs they have access to in their company. Think employee incentive programs are a crock? Think again.

Of course, not just any incentive will do; these programs should be designed with your average employee’s wants and needs in mind. After all, how much good would a hoop and stick be in this day and age? Unless there’s a viral video idea swirling around in one of your employee’s heads, chances are you should pass on this kind of incentive.

So if you’re in a managerial or leadership position at your company, stick around. Today, we’re going to talk a little bit about the wonderfully diverse employee incentive programs available right now.

Paid vacations of your choosing

There’s nothing like winning the lottery at work--the vacation lottery, that is. But how can you design a rewards program with customized vacations? Doesn’t that involve a lot of planning and extra work? It does, but you can streamline the process to make it easier for everyone. All you need to do is have your employees fill out a survey asking them questions about their preferred destinations, time frames, and travel budgets. That way, you’ll have their dream vacation info on file if they do end up winning one of these great trips. You can go one step further by creating a custom itinerary according to their preferences. It will also help your company to allocate an annual travel budget for this purpose.

Unlimited sick leaves

This incentive almost sounds too good to be true. Believe it or not, it isn’t, and it takes a few protective measures to make it that way. First, you’ll need to adjust your employee’s file to reflect their newly-minted status as an unlimited sick day-haver. Next, make sure you have a work management plan in place for when this employee decides to take sick days at will. This backup plan will help prevent any extra work buildup that may accumulate in the employee’s absence. Finally, allow for a two to three-day adjustment period where your employee is given half of their regular workload. This lighter schedule will facilitate their transition back into the office.

Streaming subscriptions

What better way to motivate your employees than by giving them something they can completely veg out to? Streaming subscriptions are now more valuable than ever, and they’re sure to be a hit with your employees. Before you do anything else, though, make sure you’ve allocated the amount for these streaming subscriptions in your budget. Don’t forget to give your employees options, too; we recommend the popular streaming services, like Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime, and HBO+. Not only is this an amazingly relevant incentive, but it could even promote lively cultural discussions around the water cooler, or wherever employees like to take a break nowadays.

Spousal death benefits

Giving your employees’ spouses ample time to grieve their loved ones is an excellent way to demonstrate how much their husband or wife meant to your company. While this incentive works better for larger businesses, you can still retool it to work for small to mid-sized companies. Many companies with this incentive design it like this: stock benefits, $1000 monthly to the employee’s children until they turn 19, and half of the employee’s annual salary to the spouse for a decade.

Flexible schedules

Flextime is a beautiful reward for employees whose personal lives are a bit unpredictable. Moreover, giving your employees a sense of autonomy over their work schedules is an excellent way to convince them to keep working for you. However, it’s good to give your employees a set of options they can choose from rather than letting them have total full reign.

As the employer, you can design these options any way you’d like, but there are a few popular choices that seem to work well for several companies. Some of these options include four-day workweeks with ten-hour shifts each, rotating shifts, four days of nine-hour shifts, and then one day of a four-hour shift, or six and a half-hour shifts six days a week. Parents with school-age children will appreciate flexible schedules, especially, as they’ll be able to fit in their work around their hectic personal lives. If you want to get a better idea of what flexible shift options your team would prefer, conduct an office-wide survey.

Tuition reimbursement

The armed forces aren’t the only ones who can help people pay for their schooling; more and more companies are beginning to offer the same. This incentive might work best for companies whose workforce is younger than 40, as millennials tend to be the ones saddled with the most school debt. Furthermore, this kind of reward might function better in companies that demand specific training, such as engineering. That way, employees will be incentivized to continue working for the company, as the company will be the one footing most of the bill for the training that will help their company grow.

House cleaning services

Unless you have a team of neat freaks, this reward will be a hit with just about any of your employees. Who has time to clean their place after a long day at the office? Perhaps the aforementioned neat freaks do, but the vast majority of people don’t. This reward is powerful as it helps employees maintain their personal space outside of work. A housecleaning voucher signals to your team that you care for their wellbeing--both in and out of the workplace.

Now that you’ve learned a little bit about the fantastic benefits of employee incentive programs, what are you waiting for? For more ideas on rewards programs like these, visit this website: https://www.mtievents.com/employee-incentives/.