Authored by Jayant Row in Business Management 
Published on 05-07-2009

It is very necessary that the workplace where your employees spend a good part of their day has an atmosphere that keeps them enthusiastic about their jobs. If the atmosphere is pleasant and the employees are happy this will translate into better productivity and could thus benefit you in the long run. You can always think of some incentive schemes to keep this environment healthy and keep their enthusiasm for the work going.

One way of giving an incentive, that really does not cost you anything is giving the employee you want to reward, some extra time off. No doubt you will lose his services for that time, but the gratitude and extra enthusiasm he will bring back on the job, will more than compensate for this.

There are other low cost incentives like plaques or award, a points program, or even small gifts or gift vouchers that can enthuse your employees and have them vying with each other for the awards or gifts. An employee of the year can be given a free holiday at the company’s expense, and when he does return from this trip, his accounts of it can inspire other employees to compete for that incentive in future.

Many business houses constantly gift small things to their employees like mouse pads, mugs and coasters, special stationery with the employees name and designation, or even umbrellas and calculators with the company’s advertisements.

Managements could use these low cost incentives to get employees to set goals for themselves, individually or as a team. Ensure that these goals are achievable so that the incentives can be distributed and the other employees encouraged. Such incentives if constantly given can reduce turnover. A management can have in place a constant education or training scheme for employees. These training schemes can be run by senior staff or those more experienced. These are also cheap incentive schemes as the cost is minimal. The retraining of your employees can only benefit the company in the long run, because the experience and knowledge of the senior persons percolates down to the lower levels and ultimately increases efficiency in the organization.

Incentive schemes must not be once in a blue moon affairs. They should be constantly reviewed and awarded so that the employees do see a constant show of appreciation from the top management. Make it a point to appreciate out of the box thinking and ideas that are new and innovative, even if they fail in the present context. The very fact that such effort has been made by the employee means that he is committed to the organization and has made his own effort to better it.

Thank you notes to employees who have done good work are very keenly sought and can play a large part in boosting the morale of employees. Public announcements and posters that extol employees who have done well can also be a good way of giving low cost incentives to employees. Use this announcement or poster to give the employee full credit for the work he has done, and also use it a means to publicize the work done or goals achieved. This will give his other colleagues a benchmark which they can also strive to aim for.