History has not been able to re-call exactly the first use of engagement and motivation to encourage behavior.

1. Incentive Programs. Yesterday, Today and the Future!
History has not been able to re-call exactly the first use of engagement and motivation to
call
encourage behavior. Some go back to the book of Genesis and Adam and Eve’s ousting
from the Garden of Eden. As the narration goes, God tells them they must “work by the
sweat of their brow” if they want to exist. Perhaps a bit severe but who’s going to argue
with God.
There's the famous Conditioned Response theory researched by noted Russian
oned
physiologist Ivan Pavlov. He went on to win the 1904 Nobel Prize for h work studying
his
digestive processes.
It was while studying digestion in dogs that Pavlov noted an interesting occurrence, his canine subjects would begin
to salivate whenever an assistant entered the room. They had been conditioned to expect that the assi
assistant was
bringing them food. No doubt a crude example. Of course we are not dogs. The point is that throughout history, the
use of methods, negatively or positively, to influence behavior has been studied and implemented for a long, long
time.
The concept of employee motivation programs, for example, may go back hundreds, if not thousands of years.
pt
Maybe starting with the club, progressing to the whip and other countless primitive behavior control methods.
Bosses soon learned, however, that the fear approach never worked and even backfired on them as historical
approach
accounts show.
Using fear and intimidation to manipulate behavior doesn’t promote cooperation and spir
spir-de-corp. “A person
forced against their will is of the same opinion still.”
The art of engagement and motivation of employees has evolved to become more human, positive and effective.
ement
Sincere recognition and appreciation is a universal need in all of us. We all practice and welcome acceptance and
acknowledgment of validity.
We incentivze others and like being incentivized. That’s part of our wiring. in·cen·tiv·ize tr.v. in·cen·tiv·ized,
in·cen·tiv·iz·ing, in·cen·tiv·iz·es- To offer incentives or an incentive to; motivate, engage and bring a call to action.
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-228-5136 :: info@taico.com
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2. In the workplace, industrial psychologists and Fortune 500 companies have found that positively engaging
employees and providing them with recognition and rewards improves performance. Here are some case studies.
Increasingly in the modern workaday world, incentives are becoming the tool we reach for when we wish to bring
about positive change. In government, in education, in health care, between and within institutions of all sorts,
incentives are offered to steer people's choices in certain directions.
Today’s Incentives Defined:
An incentive is an offer of something of value, sometimes with a cash equivalent and sometimes not, meant to
influence the payoff structure of a utility calculation so as to alter a person's course of action. In other words, the
person offering the incentive means to make one choice more attractive to the person responding to the incentive
ve
than any other alternative.
Both parties stand to gain from the resulting choice. In effect, it is a form of trade, and as such, it meets certain
ethical requirements by definition. A trade involves voluntary action by all parties concerned to bring about a result
that is beneficial to all parties concerned. If these conditions were not met, the trade would simply not occur. And as
inducements in a voluntary transaction, incentives certainly have the moral high ground over coercion as an
alternative.
The Incentive Program
An incentive program is any type of program that motivates participants in some particular way by offering them
some form of recognition and reward. Reward based programs. Incentives can be used in a variety of ways and in
many different places. They could help encourage members of a company to achieve certain goals or they might
jumpstart extra learning in a classroom. In business, incentive programs are often used in the sales industry, but this
is clearly not the only way that people can be inspired to achieve more.
When people contemplate adding an incentive program to their workforce or learning environment, they should
determine several things. First, your company should have a clear goal of the behavior you want to encourage.
Employee wellness programs, attendance rewards, improving sales with sales incentives, safety incentive programs,
years of service are some of the areas where behavior can be influenced.
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-228-5136 :: info@taico.com
© 2012 Taico® Incentive Services Inc.

3. Keeping your best employees or employee retention is also a good area to look at "incentivizing." We define it as
identifying your "performance criteria." You also need to have a sense of what type of incentives you'll offer when
employees achieve set goals. Some areas companies Working with an incentive professional will save you tim and
time
money.
For instance, a sales manager wants to see each sales representative increase their sales by 20%. The manager has to
decide how to offer an incentive that might work. This could be money, a trip for two someplace special, tickets to a
ve
fabulous concert, or many other things.
A smart manager might introduce this incentive with a company lunch or with training aimed at getting salespeople
to increase their sales. IncentiQuiz™ is a innovative tool available within the IncentiWeb® tracking and reporting
incentive system that can provide your employees with training and education in a fun very cost effective way.
education
Since 20% is a large goal, the manager could also set lower goals with smaller prizes so that he encourages each
employee to do his/her best in improving performance. Implementation of reward based programs improve
workforce moral and contribute to retention. Thus preserving your most valuable asset, your employees.
force ,
There are plenty of incentive program types in schools too. Teachers can give small rewards for increased reading,
schools
strong grades, and citizenship or for many other things. As with the managing sales director, the teacher has to sell
an incentive program as something special that makes students desire earn it.
earning
Since the rewards are usually smaller, the teacher may actually have the larger job selling such a program. He or she
must also be more sensitive to the issue that lower performing students in the class may not be able to bring
performance up to a level that would earn any incentives offered.
If you looking to implement a company incentive program we suggest reading our ebook providing you with the
information on making your incentive programs as productive and effective as possible.
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Taico® :: 67 Patterson Village Ct., Bldg F :: Patterson, NY 12563 :: 845-228-GIFT (4438) :: fax: 845-
-228-5136 :: info@taico.com
© 2012 Taico® Incentive Services Inc.