Poorly Developed Goals Will Hurt Your Incentive Program

If you have used incentive award programs, are using incentive award programs, or are planning to use incentive award programs, this postby Paul Hebert of i2i Incentive Intelligence is a must read.   

The fundamental challenge for anyone designing incentive awards is to have a program that will produce results.  The essential element to achieve this challenge is to establish the proper goals for your participants.  Then and only then can you spend the time necessary to determine the right rules to make it all work successfully.

When considering what types of goals to establish, there are three different types of goals that you should consider:

1. Focus on the behaviors that you want to influence to reach the outcome

2. Focus on what you do want to achieve vs. what you don’t want to achieve

3. Focus on specific details to achieve, not a vague generalized outcome 

Unfortunately, there are many incentive program planners who fail to understand these types, and do not structure programs that have the best chance of success.  Programs designed with poor goals are legion.  We see them all the time and they keep on coming.  They make the outcome not the behavior the goal, are not specific and detail exactly they want to achieve and are very universal  in their definition.   

The “prize” you use in your award program won’t drive lasting results unless you take the time to structure your program properly.  And worse, when goals are poorly assigned, you run the risk of spending large budgets with little to show for it.