and Rewards Trends Study 2015 Canadian Incentive

Summary Report

Branded money, delivered intelligently.

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The 2015 Canadian Incentive and Rewards Trends Study

Motivation is contingent on employees receiving rewards they truly value.

But are Canadian organizations really motivating employees with their corporate rewards

and incentives programs?

We asked Canadian HR professionals and employees for their perspectives on:

• Which rewards Canadian employees prefer to receive for a job well done.

• What makes program administrators want

to pull their hair out (and they do!).

• How the current economic downturnwill affect corporate rewards and incentives

programs in Canada.

• And, more.

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Study Key Findings Summary

Employees rank a “lack of recognition” as the top reason for unhappiness in the workplace.

60% of employees say their employer’s rewards program

does not motivate them to do a good job, costing companies both money and their best employees.

The “Incentive Gap” widens in 2015: the rewards given by

employers do not match the rewards desired by

employees.

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①

②

③

About the Study

Now in its sixth year, the 2015 Canadian Incentive and Rewards Trends Study is the only

research of its kind to analyze:

• How corporate rewards and incentive programs are used in Canada;

• Which rewards are preferred; and

• The obstacles faced by Canadian companies looking to retain employees and boost

productivity.

Record number of responses: In June 2015, we polled 1,125 Canadian Human Resources

(HR) professionals from marketing services organizations, incentive firms, human resources

consultancies, government agencies and corporations across Canada.

New demographics: In addition to employers, we also asked 500 full time

employees in Canada about what makes them happy at work.

Results are accurate +/- 3%, 95% of the time.

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What are Corporate Incentives And Rewards?

• Part of formal programs used to incent, reward, or recognizeemployee actions or behaviours.

• Typically used to motivate performance or reward milestones.

�Merchandise (company selected or points-based catalogue);

� Incentive travel or travel rewards;

�Prepaid MasterCard or Visa cards

�Retail gift cards or gift certificates(for a specific store, restaurant, or service); and,

�Special events or experiences

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Does your organizationuse employeerewards or incentives to motivate or engage employees in 2015?

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The use of corporate employee incentive and rewards

programs is down to 61% in 2015 from 69% in 2014.

Who Uses Corporate Reward and Incentive Programs in Canada?

Size of OrganizationType of Organization

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5 Reasons Companies Don’t Use Employee Rewards and Incentives in Canada

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55% of Canadian employees report their employer

doesn’t offer incentive or rewards programs.

You indicated you’re happy at work.

What makes you happy?

I enjoy what I do

Flexible hours

Good pay

Rewards and

recognition

Great management

Great colleagues

Benefits

Great location

Other

Great culture

0 % 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80%

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89% of Canadians appreciate when they get a reward

for doing their job well while less than 1% say that workplace recognition is irrelevant for them.

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Killer commute

Long hours

Dissatisfied with pay

Lack of recognition

No benefits

Bad boss / upper

management

Bad company culture

Other

10% 20% 30% 40% 50%0%

60% of employees say their employer’s rewards

program does not motivate them to do a good job, with

70% saying they have never received a reward from an

employer in recognition of a job well done.

You indicated you’re NOT happy at work.

What makes you unhappy?

Budget Cuts and Employee Engagement Require Balance in 2015

82% say their corporate reward

or incentive program is

important to the success of their overall business.

90% of employers say it's a management priority to engage

employees in the coming year.

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Program budgets remain steady in 2015 but employers will need

to strike a balance with 1/3 anticipating budget cuts due to

economic uncertainty in 2015.

The Incentive Gap Widens in 2015

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%

Rewards desiredby employees

Rewards given byemployers

Merchandise

Incentive travel / Travel rewards

Prepaid Visa, MasterCard

Store gift card

Special events or experiences

Other

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The gap between the incentives

companies use, and the incentives

employees want, grew in 2015.

Which generational group do you think is the hardest to determine the best reward or incentive for?

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70% of employers say choosing

reward or incentive programs that

have mass appeal and motivate

employees from different

generations is difficult.

Program Administration Frustrations is Running High

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Almost half of those polled said Yes when asked if their

corporate reward or incentive program makes them

want to pull their hair out.

What measures does your company use to evaluate the success of your reward or incentive programs?

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For the second year in a row, “participant satisfaction” was the primary measure companies use to evaluate

program success.

Which type of reward or incentive do you believe is the easiest to administer?

Merchandise

Incentive travel / Travel rewards

Prepaid Visa, MasterCard

Store gift card

Special events or experiences

Other

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For the sixth year in a row, prepaid cards were considered to be the easiest reward to administer by employers.

Which type of reward or incentive do you think the end recipient will be most motivated by?

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Merchandise

Incentive travel / Travel rewards

Prepaid Visa, MasterCard

Store gift card

Special events or experiences

Other

For the sixth year in a row, prepaid cards were considered to be the reward with the broadest appeal and

most likely to motivate end recipients.

Top Three Reasons Why Prepaid is Used For Employee Rewards

Ease of Use / Time to Administer

①

②

③ Perceived Value

Flexible / Mass Appeal

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Which type of reward or incentive do you believe will provide the highest return on investment to a company?

Merchandise

Incentive travel / Travel rewards

Prepaid Visa, MasterCard

Store gift card

Special events or experiences

Other

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Which reward do you think best meets the needs of today's diverse multi-generational workforce?

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9%

7%

56%

19%

9%

Respondents widely prefer

prepaid cards for rewarding multi-generational workforces.

Merchandise

Incentive travel / Travel rewards

Prepaid Visa, MasterCard

Store gift card

Special events or experiences

You're receiving a reward for many years of service at work. Which form of recognition would you prefer?

$1,000 in merchandise from a catalog

3 days all-inclusive vacation

$500 Prepaid Visa card

$500 Gift Card for a restaurant, mall or retail

store

Formal social recognition among peers

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49%

Canadian employees widely prefer prepaid cards over more costly forms of recognition.

Embrace company goals. Incentives should be tied to strategic

corporate goals and objectives, and should directly reinforce core

values.

Give employees what they want. Motivation is contingent

upon end users receiving rewards that they truly value. Giving the

wrong reward may have the opposite of its intended effect.

Decide on the type of programs. Peer recognition, spot

rewards, contests, one-time rewards and points based programs are

all commonly employed by companies looking to drive engagement.

Decide on which ones best fit your company, your budget, and your

goals.

Incentive and Reward Program Best Practices

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Incentive and Reward Program Best Practices

Develop criteria. Recognition should be something special,attainable, and frequent, and should involve the entire company. Develop criteria around who is eligible for rewards, what the goals are, and when rewards are awarded.

Deliver rewards in a timely fashion. The gap between anemployee achievement and the delivery of the reward needs to be short, since timely acknowledgement contributes significantly to participant satisfaction.

Ensure attainability for all. Making sure that performancestandards and expectations are transparent, and that employees believe rewards are achievable is critical to program success.

Feedback is required. Program testing and learning is important.Feedback on how the recognition program is received is necessary in order to adjust and improve as you go.

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Get in Touch!

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For more information about this study, please contact Hugh Vagt at

hvagt@berkeleypayment.com.

About Berkeley Payment Solutions

Berkeley Payment Solutions delivers MasterCard and Visa prepaid card

programs for corporations, governments, and financial institutions.

Collaborating with more than 700 business-to-business and business-to-

consumer clients, channel partners, non-profit organizations and marketing

agencies in Canada and the United States, Berkeley creates custom prepaid

incentive and payment solutions that can be used for a wide variety of

programs.

For more information, visit www.berkeleypayment.com.