Competing For Rewards: Defining Incentives That Will Work For Your Team

Generally speaking, people like to compete. They like to test themselves and be challenged. Most important, people like to win. Being rewarded for it? That's icing on the cake. It doesn't matter where they're from, what language they speak, or what job they do - people like to succeed and be acknowledged for it. Because I consider myself a coach, and I believe in positive energy and positive reinforcement, I believe that incentives are the single greatest tool I have for motivating my workforce...;and they can be for you, too.

Incentives work - whether the person receiving them is the manager of a retail business, an executive at a large corporation, or an entry-level employee making minimum wage. And incentives don't have to be pure cash, although I have yet to find a team member who would ever turn it down. Incentives can be almost anything:

• Pins or badges for uniforms to acknowledge certain accomplishments
• Shirts or jackets that indicate that the wearer achieved a specific milestone
• Certificates of achievement, plaques, trophies
• Dessert (yes, you read that correctly!)
• Parties
• Tickets to movies, concerts, or sporting event
• Gift certificates to a popular restaurant for the employee and a guest
• Electronic gadgets like MP3 players or tricked-out cell phones
• Gift cards
• Watches, rings, or other kinds of jewelry
• High-definition televisions
• Trips
• The list is limited only by your imagination

Dave Melton oversees six Domino's Pizza restaurants in New York City and Connecticut. His stores generate more than $6 million annually. His years behind the wheel of his franchise organization led him to pen a book - Hire the American Dream - that offers unique hands-on insight on a number of franchise operational issues.