PFI Newsletter: May 2002

Why Move Incentive Programs Online?

Why move my incentive program online? You may be asking this question, or you may be asked this question by a client or prospect. If you haven’t already formulated your own response, here is some additional information and suggested answers for what is or will soon be a frequently asked question.

• Accessibility: Previous arguments against online programs, or concerns about moving a program online focused on the issue of accessibility. The following statistics begin to erode this argument and/or concerns:

• Nearly 70% of employees at Fortune 2,000 companies have access to the Internet. This number is expected to increase to 90% within two years.

• An additional 14% (over and above the 70%) have Internet access at home.

• Cost savings: Online program cost savings come from significantly reduced catalog material and mailing costs. In addition, paper and postage costs associated with traditional certificates and earnings statements are also eliminated. This doesn’t mean you need to eliminate hard copy catalogs altogether. You can make a limited supply available or offer them upon request. PFI presents several low-cost award brochure alternatives to the larger and more costly catalog. These could be used to "put something in hand" in addition to the extensive online collection.

• Participant Satisfaction: When using an online catalog, the issue of discontinued items or incorrect model numbers is practically non-existent. At PFI, our online site is updated daily as we receive new information from vendors and manufacturers. Items that have been discontinued are removed, new model numbers replace old numbers and when appropriate, new images are loaded.

• Information Access: Participants can access online accounts 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to check their balance, shop the catalog, order awards and even check on the status of previous orders.

• Participant Communication: Presenting rules, providing information updates and important management messages is as simple as loading static pages to a program homepage.

• Administrative Simplicity: Every aspect of administration from enrollment to reporting point earnings can be simplified with an online program. The Awardlink.com website provides the opportunity for self-administration as well, which is not only convenient for many clients, but also represents additional savings. In addition to simplicity, there are also the administrative cost savings previously listed. These include elimination of paper earnings statements or point certificates as well as the postage for mailing information to participants.

So, the question "Why move an incentive program online?" should be rephrased as . . ."Why NOT move an incentive program online?"

Safety Program Success Factors

The following are guidelines based on a composite of recommendations and suggestions by safety incentive professionals. These suggestions and guidelines are designed to help you help your clients plan, develop and launch a successful safety initiative, including a safety incentive program within their organization.

• Assemble a team. Good safety programs work from the bottom up, so begin your program structure with the employees.

• Develop safety procedures and set goals. What you learn during the observation and planning phases of the program should be articulated to all employees. The best vehicle for this is a precise, comprehensive set of procedures that identifies safe behavior on a task-specific basis. Safety procedures should be broken down by work function and by department. If you don’t already have defined safety processes and procedures spelled out, you should plan to do so.

• Implement a training program. Safety training is the best way to insure that your procedures are understood and followed. Also, look at the training process as a way to promote the incentive component and to boost employee ownership of the safety program in general. Training should be ongoing, especially as you adjust procedures based on what you learn. Again, safety should not be dictated from the top down. Employees should be involved at all levels, including training.

• Create an incentive program. Part of your focus on safety should include a safety incentive rewards program. Changing employee behavior is the means to meeting and exceeding your safety goals. Incentives are a proven strategy for driving individual performance improvement. To a large extent, the incentive component of a safety program is like any other type of employee incentive program. One major difference concerns the term of the program. Incentive programs generally have been getting shorter in recent years. Safety programs buck this trend, for obvious reasons: safety is an ongoing concern. You're not looking for a short-term boost in sales. As a result, you face a greater challenge keeping employees engaged in the safety process actively involved. This is one reason why cash incentives are a poor choice for a safety program. Cash has limited trophy value, and even high levels of cash tend to be viewed, over time, as expected bonuses. Here are some specific incentive program guidelines for insuring that your safety program is a success:

Incentive Programs… A cure for the common "goal"

Partners for Incentives has experience in working with a wide variety of incentive applications and welcomes the opportunity to work with you to translate your customer’s goals into successful incentive program investments.

Need More Support?

We welcome your input and recommendations about how we can better assist you in packaging and presenting merchandise incentive programs. If you have ideas about additional sales tools that would be helpful, let us know. Also, if you need assistance with developing an incentive application, writing a proposal or responding to an RFP, please let us help. The PFI marketing department includes experienced incentive professionals who can help you throughout the sales process.

Contact Us

Sales Department: 1-800-292-7371

E-mail INFO@SPIHQ.COM