Many organizations rely on pay for performance programs to help drive employee behavior. In the best cases, these schemes are designed to differentiate among performance levels, rewarding effort and results with annual merit pay increases and other annual incentives. MORE

It’s about time someone demystified and explained the differences between recognition and reward. Recognition and reward are two completely different things and are used for different purposes. Okay, so take the Incentive Marketing Association (IMA). When do you give recognition? MORE

A big part of that answer depends on how well you reward and recognize employees. In a recent CareerBuilder survey, 50% of employees said they would stay at their current job if they were tangibly recognized for their efforts. Many HR pros today struggle to find a way to get top management to realize that putting a cash bonus in the paycheck once a year isn’t how you make staff feel valued. Encourage employees to recognize each other. Recognition readily available. MORE

Actually, when it comes to reward and recognition programs, quite a few things may be. So says a new study by the Incentive Research Foundation, Award Program Value & Evidence. The thoroughly documented report discusses two broad topics that should be of lasting interest to any HR professionals involved in employee recognition programs: . And what do employees do with their salaries? The reason employees often pour their reward into the household pot? MORE

With the end of the year approaching, it is no surprise that employees in the Health and Human Services industry have a lot on their plate. Additional monetary bonuses and benefits may not be on the table to keep motivation at an all-time-high, so what exactly can your organization do to keep the company culture intact and employees engaged? Fortunately, monetary incentives are not the only way to keep your employees motivated. It’s definitely a win-win. MORE

millennial or Gen Y employee switches jobs four times in the first decade after college graduation. What that means is that companies must now work harder to entice workers through pay raises, training and other incentives. While the definition of enjoyable can be different for everyone, one study cited in Harvard Business Review found the key elements to be “play, purpose and potential.” Consider bonuses, gift cards and celebrations of big events in your employees’ lives. MORE

Can we say that these people are simply better than the average group of employees who contribute to business regularly? In other words, no matter the qualities of each employee, what truly matters is the teamwork. Leadership and Employee Engagement. MORE

To be a good leader for your employees, one needs to be rich with your praise, cheer them on, love to watch them grow and be excited about their success. You need to love to give bonuses. Above-and-beyond bonuses available to any level of employee. MORE

A popular holiday for the final vacation of the summer, but also a great opportunity to promote – or debut – your reward and recognition programs. Understanding the formula for successful employee recognition programs. MORE

Last month The New York Times ran an article bemoaning the loss of pay raises in favor of one-time bonuses and non-monetary rewards. Cited in the article, analyst firm Aon Hewitt calls this a “drastic shift” based on the firm’s annual survey on salaried employee compensation. MORE

It turns out that high performers are more likely to provide pay increases (90% compared to 84%), bonuses (81% compared to 74%), and are also likely to leverage more of a compensation mix. MORE

Employees that took that survey were asked to rate the three most important attributes of workplace culture. The number one answer from 50% of those employees: pay. But for the most part, I am surprised that so many employees point to pay as the most important part of culture. MORE