Wherever employees they work, they always work for monetary return according to their work. It is money that they earn that drives them to continue. However, to build their careers and improve upon their skills they need more than that. Incentives always drive individuals to improve their way of working so that they improve on other skills that are associated with their core work. An example of this can be for employees to improve their interpersonal skills based on the prospect of moving into more prestigious positions in the same line of work.
Why would an employee need incentives to move into a Management Role?
Most individuals feel the need for more dignity to accompany their line of work. As part of a strategic talent management plan in an organization, certain incentives can be offered. For example, if you are brilliant at designing websites and want a better position in the same field, the company employing you can incentivize your role by offering you a managerial position. This would mean: more responsibilities and better results expected through your new role, but you would get what you need, which is a new designation with better salary and perhaps some perks like a company car or phone.
Can incentives spoil Employees?
Some critics are of the view that incentives can spoil employees. They argue that when an employee gets into a managerial role they may not perform as desired and simply become a burden on a company. However, this can only happen if there is no means of monitoring their performance.
With HR software that is now being used widely for measuring employee performance, there is little or no room for under performers whether they are employees in a department or managers. Real time monitoring facilitated by this software is part of the compensation management process, which allows superiors to keep an eye on everyone. Therefore, the argument that incentives can spoil employees is weak simply because they would not last in that position of they do not perform.
Can Incentives improve individual Employee Performance?
Employee performance can easily be improved through suitable incentives. While some companies believe that these should be cash-based others say that these must be material based. This is why some organizations believing in rewarding employees for certain achievements by giving them vouchers for certain important events or dinner vouchers for their spouses or families. Whatever the achievement is, the incentive must match it, and this is what must be carefully decided in order to achieve results and improve workforce productivity.
