Dive Brief:
- Companies looking to reward and motivate employees with incentive awards need to focus on the total reward experience, and it frequently doesn't include cash, according to a new study commissioned by the Incentive Marketing Association (IMA).
- The study found that between 40 and 70% of a participant's preferred award experience was determined by non-award presentation factors such as who gives the award, how it's communicated, and what professional impact it carries.
- More than 450 individuals were queried in-depth on more than 80 non-cash award types to determine their preferred kinds of travel, merchandise, gift card incentives and perks. The data collected produced each participant's most and least desired total reward experience.
Dive Insight:
"The Participant Study," conducted by the Incentive Research Federation (IRF) through Intellective Group for IMA, is the largest, most statistically-complex study of participant award preferences done by an outside entity for the incentive industry to date.
It found that the total reward experience carries more positive impact than the reward itself.
In all, the study participants personally valued and weighed more than 110 aspects of the total award experience. This presents a challenge for businesses to work harder than ever to personalize incentive programs, as there is no "one size fits all" approach, according to IMA Executive Director Donna Chrobak.
"A key lesson for businesses from this study is that every type of reward -- merchandise, gift cards and travel -- all outperform cash, and that assuring a positive and personal total reward experience has a major impact on participant motivation and behavior, which ultimately affects employee performance and talent retention," said Chrobak, adding that further findings from The Participant Study are being compiled, and will appear in future reports.