The ability to recruit and retain top talent

The several months I have spent many hours recruiting a new sales person and realize

The importance of keeping them when I find the right person. 

We may not have realized it, but incentives were probably an integral part of

your childhood. Want to spend the night at your best friend’s house? Only

after your room is clean. Sure you can have ice cream, but only if your

homework is finished.

In order to persuade us to be good and do what we’re told, our parents

offered special indulgences — desserts, video games or other treats. It’s the

theory of behavior modification. Over time, we become accustomed to being

rewarded for hard work.

Nothing changes as we grow up, except we want more than permission to

eat that big slice of apple pie or have extra time to play Super Mario Bros.

before bedtime. To reward outstanding performance today, we want

merchandise — from office and desk accessories to coffee cups, bags and

even watches.

Incentives are merely a tangible way of saying “thank you,” and in such a

competitive marketplace, where retaining employees can be challenging, a

few “thank you” can go a long way. The idea, though, is not to reward

everybody for everything. Rather, it is to reward those who consistently work

hard, and by doing so, you are creating and maintaining an efficient and

collaborative work environment where employees feel involved and

motivated.

We all know that dangling the proverbial carrot is an effective way to

motivate employees. But to find out how effective, we conducted a survey at

the annual Society for Human Resource Professionals convention in June

2007. The results of our survey demonstrated that HR pros find promotional

products very effective components of awards and recognition programs. It

turns out that 75 percent of respondents who currently have rewards and

recognition programs in place report using promotional products in those

programs. And 72 percent of those respondents stated that promotional

products are either “effective” or “extremely effective” in motivating,

rewarding and recognizing employees.

So, what are the most popular employee recognition programs?

• Employee Service Awards — used by 62 percent of respondents

• Motivating Specific Behaviors — used by 43 percent of respondents

• Improving Teamwork — used by 28 percent of respondents

• Programs Involving Exceeding Sales Targets — used by 25 percent of

respondents

People will forget what you say, but they will never forget how you made

them feel. Creating an efficient and collaborative work environment where

employees feel involved and motivated is critical to the success of internal

marketing. Promotional products serve as a personal and tangible recognition

of an employee’s contributions and help address some of the key challenges

faced by corporate America related to employee engagement,

communications and interdepartmental integration. Incentives are especially

effective in an era when media clutter makes it difficult to communicate with

one’s own employees.

The three most commonly used promotional products in award and

recognition programs are:

• Recognition awards, such as plaques and pins

• Wearable’s, including T-shirts, golf shirts and logoed shirts

• Writing instruments, including pens

Promotional products are the only way to make a sensible — and memorable

— impression.