Incentives can assist in retaining quality employees while also recruiting new employees. The Global Health Workforce Alliance commissioned guidelines as part of its work to identify and implement solutions to the health care workforce crisis.
Incentives can be offered individually, to a group of individuals or to a team of employees. When showcasing incentives for a group of employees, it is important to set attainable goals. This video below explains how an employer can prepare for and structure group incentives for employees.
Financial Incentives
The most common type of financial incentive is a bonus in the form of cash or a gift certificate to be used for goods or services. Financial incentives can be a challenge for health care facilities on limited budgets, but financial incentives do not have to be substantial for an employee to feel appreciated and recognized.
Example: One organization chose to give all employees $50 to spend at a specific store, good for the month of August. As August is a busy month and back to school time, this incentive benefited all employees, particularly those who have kids returning to school.
Non-financial Incentives
Organizations can also offer non-financial incentives for employees, such as:
- Verbal appreciation from a manager to an employee for a job well done
- Recognition for completing a challenging or tedious task
- An employee-of-the-month recognition program
- A simple thank-you card, showing appreciation
An additional list of 101 non-financial incentives can be found here.
Overall, employee incentives do not need to be huge, expensive incentives, but rather an additional gesture or small gift to make an employee feel appreciated. A recent study conducted by the online career website Glassdoor found that 80 percent of employees say that they are motivated to work harder when their boss shows appreciation for their work.
