The  Incentive Research Foundation (IRF) recently released a study on employees’ reward and recognition preferences. This study included around 1500 full-time employees from various backgrounds and demographics. The respondents were given 24 different reward options to rank according to preference. The biggest takeaway from this? When it comes to rewards and incentives, one size does not fit all. For ongoing rewards programs, Gift cards were the top-rated tangible incentive selected by survey participants. For annual rewards, high-value merchandise was popular, along with travel/experiential rewards. However, despite the fact that over 50% of respondents placed all-expense-paid experiences as a reward preference, only 3% of them reported receiving that sort of reward. Rewards programs employed effectively show clear benefits. Employees who felt satisfied with their company’s rewards and recognition efforts reported the following: Despite the Covid-19 pandemic, only 16% of survey respondents indicated their reward and recognition preferences had changed. The 16% showed an increase in interest in monetary rewards, such as gift cards or prepaid cards. The most common reason was because of either an increase or a decrease in work hours. Surprisingly, the interest in travel rewards was not significantly decreased among respondents.  Cash-based rewards should be integrated into incentive programs, whether […]

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