15 Effective Remote Worker Incentive Program Ideas

You are a remote worker. 

In the peace of your home, you sit comfortably, focusing on the task at hand. There is nothing to distract you. You are sure that you will get the work done on time. 

But something lurks inside you. 

Am I doing the right thing? Should I ask someone for suggestions? But who is the right person to ask? What if they think I’m incompetent?   

These thoughts might demotivate you. Makes you feel lonely at work. It can even make you feel detached from your organization. 

What you need is reaffirmation, validation, and motivation. 

What your company needs to provide is appreciation, rewards, and incentives. 

Delve into this article as we deal with remote incentives and their importance. As we explore remote incentives for your employees and teammates. 

As we help you design, implement, and measure employee benefits for remote workers.   

Wish to motivate your remote workers? Scroll down for all information.

What exactly are remote incentives?

Remote work is a mixed bag. While it helps employees focus on their work, ensuring consistent performance becomes a challenge. 

In such a muddled situation, remote incentives can come to your help. 

Remote incentives are perks given to your employees working off-site. These rewards are designed to motivate, engage, and appreciate the remote workforce. 

Providing incentives for remote workers makes them feel part of the company. These efforts to create a sense of belonging can enhance their job satisfaction, productivity, and overall performance. 

Remote worker incentive programs have the power to connect scattered members across geographies and foster a sense of community. 

Consequently, employee benefits for remote workers drive organizational growth and success. 

Why are employee incentives and recognition important?

The benefits of working remotely are extensive. But at times it can leave the employee feeling disconnected and confused. 

The distance and isolation of remote work remove you from the benefits of constant feedback and validation. This recognition is important to your business in various ways. 

So what are the reasons why recognition and incentives for your remote employees are important: 

It boosts employee morale

Employees remain consistent in their work when their efforts and achievements are recognized. Thus implementing remote employee incentive ideas will boost your employee morale and commitment to the organization. 

It enhances productivity

Appreciation and recognition validate your efforts and contributions. It encourages employees to enhance their productivity and provide better-quality work. 

It promotes a positive work culture

Employees must be given credit for the work they do. Providing rewards and incentives is the best way to celebrate employee milestones. Efforts like these promote a positive work culture in your organization.

It attracts and retains employees

Employees remain in a workspace that values their efforts and contributions. Such a healthy work environment will also attract top talents to be a part of the team.

It improves employee well-being 

Recognizing employee efforts and contributions provides professional validation and emotional satisfaction. This feeling of being valued and appreciated can have a huge impact on your employee's well-being. 

Every work arrangement must have an employee recognition program. It brings positive reaffirmations that significantly impact your employee performance and overall operations.

15 Effective Remote Worker Incentive Program Ideas

So what are the ways you can make sure that your employees feel appreciated? 

Especially, in a remote work environment, organizations must go the extra mile to reach out to their team.

Here are 15 effective ways you can ensure your employees feel appreciated: 

Recognition and Awards 

Create a system of recognizing your employees. It can range from public appreciation of words to sending a personalized recognition video to the employee. 

Professional Development Opportunities

Remote work shouldn’t mean doing the same routine work for years. Even in an off-site job companies must provide promotions and learning opportunities to grow. 

Virtual Mentorship Programs

Remote employees must have the opportunity to meet up with senior executives. These conversations will help them in driving new ideas for organizational growth. 

Wellness Programs

A large section considers remote jobs as easy. But it takes the same physical, mental, and emotional effort as any other job. Therefore, company policies should offer leave and benefits that focus on employee health and well-being.

Mental Health Support

Study shows that 20 percent of remote employees find it difficult to cope with loneliness.  Hence, companies must offer mental health support like provision for counseling,  and therapy as a part of their employee package. 

Performance Bonuses

Even in a remote set up companies must include metrics to objectively evaluate employee performance. Depending on their efforts and progress they must be given bonuses and rewards. 

Monetary Rewards 

Employee rewards can be in the form of monetary benefits. It can be commissions, profit shares, stocks, and other bonuses. Monetary rewards can motivate employees, enhance their performance, and improve loyalty. 

Gift Cards and Vouchers

Sometimes you can get confused as to what your employee's needs and preferences are. In such situations, gift cards and vouchers are a safe option. Employees can decide how they want to make use of it depending on their likeness. 

Paid Time Off

Everyone needs a break from their hectic professional life at some point. Companies should encourage employees to use their paid time off to recharge and relax. This will help them return to work feeling fresh and rejuvenated.

Surprise Lunch Deliveries

Who doesn't love surprises? Especially when they come from your company while you're working remotely? During special occasions, companies can send surprise lunch boxes to their employees.

Flexible Working Hours

Flexible working hours will help employees balance their professional and personal lives. It helps your team achieve professional goals without compromising their personal responsibilities.

Home Office Stipends 

Companies working completely remotely can provide a home office stipend.  This helps employees set up a workspace following the furniture ergonomics.

Technology Upgrades

Companies can provide employees with new laptops, tablets, and other devices as incentives. This ensures that employees have access to the best tools to efficiently perform their tasks and responsibilities.

Branded Merchandise

Companies can also send companies merchandise like t-shirts, bottles, and other accessories. These gifts can create a sense of belonging and pride in being part of the organization. It also helps in employee branding on social media platforms. 

Festive Gift Boxes

Companies can celebrate festivities with their remote employees by sending gift boxes. It can be gifts related to the occasion, sweets, or items that bring a smile to their face. 

Incentives fulfill various functions. It can motivate your employees. It can create a sense of belonging. 

The wide range of purposes it fulfills makes it an integral part of managing your remote workforce efficiently. 

Employee Reward and Recognition Ideas for Remote Teams

Let's pool more ideas. This time we bring in remote work reward programs for teams. The primary purpose of all these remote incentives and rewards is to bring your employee a step closer to the step.

1. Flexible Work Schedule
2. Professional Development Opportunity 
3. Work-From-Home Equipment Provision
4. Mentoring Program Creation
5. Wellness Program Offerings
6. Monetary Rewards
7. CEO Zoom Calls
8. Social Media Recognition
9. Public Praise
10. Peer-to-Peer Recognition
11. Personal Development Time Off
12. Appreciation Video Creation
13. Virtual Awards Ceremonies Hosting
14. Extra Vacation Days Granting
15. Recognition of Non-Professional Achievements
16. Company Merchandise 
17. Snack Box Deliveries
18. Gym Subscriptions
19. Virtual Event Offerings
20. Personalized Reward Offerings

An ideal remote incentive program is a combination of these reward systems. Managers can make the best call depending on the occasion or accomplishment.

The effectiveness of these rewards depends on how well you can tap them and include them in your operations. 

Designing Effective Remote Worker Incentive Programs

It is normal for an employee to feel disconnected and detached from work. 

Effective incentive programs can mitigate this situation and bring the employees closer to the organization.

So here is a step-by-step process you can take to bridge the gaps between remote employees and the organization: 

Set the Tone 

Know why you are building a remote worker incentive program. Outlining the objectives will help build an effective incentive program that targets achieving these goals. 

Understand the Dynamics 

Remote work structure has its own unique features. Incentives must be built around addressing the challenges and tapping the opportunities it offers.  

Ask What they Feel 

Regularly gather feedback from your employees. Ask what they feel about the incentive program. Ask what motivates them. Ask what their needs and preferences are. 

Choose What Best Suits You 

There are numerous remote incentives to choose from. Companies must put that effort into understanding their employee needs and preferences. These insights will help in choosing the incentives that best suit your remote structure. 

Mix and Match Rewards 

An incentive that works for an employee might not be the preferred reward by another. So customize your remote employee incentive ideas according to the personal preferences of your workforce. 

Keep Everyone Informed 

The one area where most tools fall short is in properly detailing their particulars to the recipients. Keeping your remote employees informed of their incentives and rewards will improve its effectiveness. 

Fine-tune It 

People's needs and preferences change. The industry trends change. Your competitor's standards change. Regularly update your incentive program to include these changes and maintain its relevance. 

Your main aim in providing employee benefits for remote workers is to motivate and engage your workforce. 

Following these steps will help in achieving these objectives, thereby driving organizational success. 

Implementing Remote Worker Incentive Programs

Do you know where the greatest challenge of remote incentive lies? Effective implementation. 

For a group scattered across geographies, tracking their performance, understanding their preferences, and celebrating their milestones can become a challenge. 

That is why you need to keep a better watch on your implementation process. Here are a few tips to follow to ensure effective implementation of remote worker incentive programs: 

• Understand the unique dynamics of a remote work structure. Its features, opportunities, and challenges are different from onsite work. 
• Design your remote incentives by addressing the specific needs and preferences of your off-site employees. 
• Make sure your remote worker understands the specifics of the incentive program. Keep the communication channels open to address queries and confusion. 
• Always be open to change and update. Only this can keep your incentive program relevant in a dynamic environment. 
• Design your incentive program to accommodate all remote roles and backgrounds. It must have a variety of rewards that cater to different needs and preferences. 

These points must be the guiding principles of your daily implementation of your remote work reward programs. 

Measuring the Impact of Remote Worker Incentives

Designing employee benefits for remote workers comes full circle only when you measure their impact.

Companies can make this evaluation in different ways. You can begin by simply asking if your remote workers are happy and satisfied with the incentives they receive. 

If they prefer anonymity in their feedback, providing a survey form or evaluation sheet can serve the purpose.

Companies can compare the change in employee motivation and engagement before and after the incentive implementation. Using key performance metrics can make this evaluation process objective. 

Keeping track of these changes and improvements will help in identifying your areas of success and improvements. 

Regular evaluation of the impact of your remote incentives ensures that you achieve the desired targets and outcomes while also confirming the return on investment.

Final Thoughts

The world is increasingly preferring a remote work culture. An Owl Labs study shows that 16% of companies are fully remote. 

This growing preference for remote work stems from the opportunity for career development without compromising on your personal responsibilities. 

The comfort of their peaceful home improves employee focus and productivity. These perks will eventually help the organization to grow and succeed. 

While the advantages of remote work are numerous, it comes with its challenges. Employees may experience occasional feelings of detachment and loneliness due to working alone.

During such moments, remote incentives can be a valuable resource that offers support and motivation.

But keeping track of the performance and incentives of a large workforce can become tedious and challenging. 

That is where Kennect’s incentive automation comes to your help. 

We transform your commission management by combining seamless automation with impeccable data accuracy and a user-friendly platform. 

Our automation tool adapts quickly to business evolution and designs tailored incentive plans. 

Kennect cuts through the complexity of daily administration and offers streamlined, automated workflows for all your incentive management needs. 

Book a Demo with us NOW to know more about our solution.