The Basics of Staging
Effective Employee Incentives,
Contests and Rewards
U
sing employee incentives, contests, recognition and
rewards is commonplace in our industry. But even the
best intentions can cause indifferent results if your
incentive ideas don’t resonate with the team you’re
trying to inspire to perform better. Over the last five
years, I’ve had the pleasure of designing and implementing employee and manager incentive and recognition
programs for many of the Top 100 restaurant chains. I’d like to
share a few basic guidelines and creative ideas you can use to
measure, incent and recognize improved performance among
both your hourly and management teams.
Recognition Versus Incentives
It’s key to start by understanding how incentives and recognition differ in order to reap the benefits of both. The first step is to
clarify the difference between employee recognition and employee
incentives. Incentives are usually rewards that are promised in
advance of a desired action; for example, a bonus for exceeding
a service goal on Mystery Shops or exceeding a check average
sales goal by 5 percent. Recognition, while it may also be financial,
is an after-the-fact event. Recognition is often in the form of a
reward, but should always include praise, either public or private.
Ultimately your goal is NOT for someone to win a cont \