Using incentives to make the team work

IMHO - no - ive always been a team player and given my all to nearly all of my former employers.

Giving me a pen, special note in the company website never really floated my boat. I won a few and was given even more jolly days out driving & clay pigeon shooting etc but i can't in all honesty say it made me work any harder.

Yes I think it's different if an incentive is aimed at am employee, but with these business opportunities we are all self employed so an incentive can help develop our own businesses. My business grew last month because of that incentive. 

Regards

It's an interesting one. Your right you have to differentiate between employees and business owners, most incentives are employee driven, and can be very effective, especially commission or performance bonus's. 

But as business owners, one of the key skill sets is the ability to be a self starter/motivator and a grafter. Rewards then tend to turn up as more brass in the bank, which I'll take more of any day, rather than a pat on the back, a made up industry award or a day out on some water logged golf course

But sometimes we all need a bit of motivation, normally me on a Monday... so it works and keeps the brass rolling, then it's all good news 

I've always been against 'Incentive Schemes', for me it's simply a case of if someone needs an incentive to get the best out of them then they shouldn't have been hired in the first place.

Think we've found another contender for Lord Sugars replacement 

I guess some people do need that extra push. When I worked for Argos they had an incentive in store, the Manager would give a box of chocs to the member of staff who sold the most insurance. A few staff did go for it, I couldn't be bothered I guess it was the start of me loosing all interest in the job. But when Phoenix Trading promote an incentive, I get really excited about it. I can use the incentive as a goal to reach. This in turn helps to grow my business. I know other direct sells companies offer holidays and new cars as incentives, if it didn't work they wouldn't do it. The proof is in the pudding, an incentive can bring out the best in people. A company that doesn't need to use incentives must be in a minority nowadays. 

If Companies need to do it that's all good, and if someone gets an extra drive from it that is also good, however i just think/expect people to do everything possible whether there is something extra in it for them or not.

I was always doing battle with my former employer over what i perceived to be lazy employees, but on reflection i guess they were always aware of it.

They swanned in at 9am, i was always in at 8.30, then they talked for 20 mins about last nights Eastenders ( i bloody hate that programme!), then the conversation usually turned to what they had to eat for tea, meanwhile i'm taking all the calls !!!!! 

I had a regular pay upgrade and even got overtime for being the office "tape monkey" for our system upgrades.

The chatty employees got a small payrise each year inline with inflation - my point is, my incentive was to work hard, keep my head down when all around where chatting and that was seen by the boss and each year i was rewarded with an over inflation payrise. As part of that i was the one taken out by reps for lunches (working of course) but that was my natural work ethic, so in that case incentives were not necessary.

agree other than commission which is also an excuse to pay lower wages for sales types.