I love talking to young people about their first jobs. I’m curious to know why they chose to work for a particular company, who determines their work hours, how they get along with their supervisor, what working conditions they experience, and how they’re treated by peers. I listen how they navigate challenges, self-advocate, and explain workplace policies. But this summer, I’ve been especially intrigued to hear how companies are turning their employees into brand ambassadors and unofficial spokespersons through employee incentive programs.

My most recent conversation was with a college freshman working at a healthy fast food chain. The freshman is learning how to cook, clean, and serve up a smile for customers. However, she was most excited to share details about her company’s point system. She earned points for such things as reporting to work on time, working a full shift, wearing the company uniform (yes, all the things you’re supposed to do), as well as training new staff, receiving a great customer review, reaching an anniversary milestone, and reposting restaurant content on social media. Points could be redeemed for things such as gift cards, tech gadgets, company swag, entertainment tickets, additional paid vacation days, and spa treatments. She talked for a long time about the points program, showing great enthusiasm for how many she had earned and redemption options.

At first, I wondered why companies are turning to these complicated technology-based rewards programs. After all, back in my day, the reward for work was pay and the incentive was one’s own personal drive for success.

There’s a simple yet fascinating psychology behind incentive programs. The programs are intended to make employees feel happy because they trigger one’s brain to release dopamine, so employees associate points with pleasure. Acts like anticipating the points, receiving the points, talking about the rewards program, and evaluating the available rewards compound the pleasure long before the points are redeemed. In fact, the mere act of checking points makes an employee 92% more likely to repeat actions that resulted in their earning the points.<a id="footnote1-ref" href="#footnote1"><sup>1</sup></a> 

Just thinking about the rewards and accumulated points to acquire something meaningful likely increases the employee’s engagement and motivation to continue  positive performance that earned them the points in the first place.

Fast food restaurants are not the only companies embracing incentive programs. In fact, the incentives industry is being valued at over $100 billion.<a id="footnote2-ref" href="#footnote2"><sup>2</sup></a> Incentive programs can increase employee performance by as much as 44% and motivate up to 66% of employees to remain employed.<a id="footnote3-ref" href="#footnote3"><sup>3</sup></a>

Although there have been virtually no academic studies published on the efficacy of employee points-reward programs, and there certainly are critics to the programs, the survey data and my  anecdotal conversation suggest a program may be worth exploring for your company if your workers need a motivational boost.

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<div id="footnote1" style="    color: var(--midnight-blue); text-align: justify; margin-top: 20px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 24px;">[1] See Kelly Wong’s article 18 employee incentive programs to engage your team updated on July 24, 2023 found at www.achievers.com <a href="#footnote1-ref" aria-label="Return to footnote 1 referring content."> ↵ </a></div><div id="footnote2" style="    color: var(--midnight-blue); text-align: justify; margin-top: 20px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 24px;">[2] Id. <a href="#footnote2-ref" aria-label="Return to footnote 2 referring content."> ↵ </a></div><div id="footnote3" style="    color: var(--midnight-blue); text-align: justify; margin-top: 20px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 24px;">[3] Id. <a href="#footnote3-ref" aria-label="Return to footnote 3 referring content."> ↵ </a></div>

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