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    • Action plan

    Introducing an incentive scheme

    Medium effort

    High impact

    It's the carrot and stick scenario – even the most engaged need an occasional nudge towards desired behaviour, attitude and action. While small businesses don't have the bottomless pockets some big corporates have, incentive schemes can be drawn up on a budget and actually take advantage of the smaller set up. However, it's important to put the work in at the beginning so that incentivised actions align with what your business is looking to achieve in the long term.

    • We’ve designed our action plans to be completed in the order of steps laid out and explained why each step is important
    • Customising your action plan lets you set your own completion dates, assign tasks to others and get notifications
    • Helpful tools are provided for certain steps while a tracking metric at the end will help you determine the long-term success of your effort
    • A downloadable PDF version of each action plan is available if you’d like to compete it offline
    What's involved? Ways to use this action plan Measuring impact
    1

    Discover how other businesses have implemented incentive schemes of different kinds

    Impact: low

    Why will this help?

    Learning from the experiences and lessons of fellow business leaders is the best way to direct your own improvement efforts.

    2

    Define your goals and therefore the performance you would like to reward – recognising this will be different across roles

    Impact: medium

    Why will this help?

    Introducing an incentive scheme is a good way to motivate employees, but you need to define the goals you'll reward to make it a success.

    What to consider when introducing incentives
    3

    Establish a budget for your incentive programme, taking into account cash bonuses, benefits and other non-tangible perks such as early finishes to the day

    Impact: medium

    Why will this help?

    Incentive schemes don't have to cost the world, but it is important to ring fence how much you want to set aside for the various incentives you'll put in place – taking into account the fact that what you introduce will need to be able to last for years not months.

    4

    Ask employees what incentives they will find most rewarding in both the short and long term

    Impact: high

    Why will this help?

    Surveying your employees about a potential incentive scheme is a great way to establish what perks to include and what to avoid. You'll learn that some are encouraged by monetary bonuses while others are looking for benefits which help improve their work/life balance.

    Talking to your employees about an incentive scheme

    Talk to your workforce before designing an incentive scheme, so you can come up with a programme that really resonates.
    5

    Create a set of incentives that are balanced between business-wide and individual goals

    Impact: high

    Why will this help?

    Creating an engaging incentive scheme will motivate your employees and boost productivity. At this stage your staff will have been engaged in the process from the beginning and feel like they have helped shape what is now being rolled out.

    Creating a successful employee incentive programme

    Create an incentive programme that will strike the right chord with your employees and benefit your business.

    What can I do with this Action Plan?

    Start this Action Plan

    Add some extra information to this plan and we’ll help you get it done.

    • We’ve designed our action plans to be completed in the order of steps laid out and explained why each step is important
    • Customising your action plan lets you set your own completion dates, assign tasks to others and get notifications
    • Helpful tools are provided for certain steps while a tracking metric at the end will help you determine the long-term success of your effort
    • A downloadable PDF version of each action plan is available if you’d like to compete it offline

    Download and print

    Get a printable template for this Action Plan, fill it in with some target dates, and share it with your team. Pin it on the wall where everyone can see it.

    Get the printable Action Plan

    Learning Groups

    We also run Learning Groups on these topics where you can join other leaders tackling the same challenges.

    Find a Learning Group

    How will I know if my action plan is working?

    Staff satisfaction survey results

    Staff satisfaction surveys help gauge sentiment at regular intervals

    Why this metric?

    Whether gathered anonymously or not, staff satisfaction surveys help gauge the sentiment of your people as changes are made and impacts felt.

    How do I start tracking?

    Use an online survey to get feedback from members of staff three and six months after making changes to see what impact it has had.