Employee Incentives

Hello this is my first time on here and I am looking to see if anyone can shed some light on a few good incentives to do for my employees. I work in a call center but my reps love food. LOL

A mix of favorite and not so favorite donuts always got people to meetings on time.

Include some fruit for those who can't have the sugar or gluten.

There is a BBQ place called..... (trying to rattle brain)
I think it is Grumpy's BBQ (why is there always a bbq joint named grumpy's?)
 
They do BBQ and cajun food.  The place can look....... shocking.... hole in the wallish....... diveish.  However the food can be really good at times.
 
For those who make their quotas offer a bonus party.
Pick up some bbq and gumbo and have a treat.
 
Just don't forget the wet naps for their fingers before they go back to work or their keyboards will be sticky.
 

Send out for lunch alwasys works (maybe once a month??) Have a suggestion box with the workers submitting names of take-out or catering menus they like. Pick one each month.
OR
Pitch-in lunchs...some called "pot-Lucks"  but spread the food assignments around to have a balanced selection. Offer release time to those who do the set-up and take-down, or hire a seperate clean-up crew.
 
I am afraid the days of the company picking up the tab for open-bar service are over. But I shared in some dandies for many years !!!  God Bless the Indianapolis Sheraton Hotel. It had a 2 hour open bar each weeknite for overnite guests. We stayed there at least one nite every two weeks for a year back in the early 1980's I got my money's worth on the bar food and the booze at that great hotel. The "Happy Hours" were part of the full breakfast and dinner type bar-food in the evening that was included in the "State Employee Rate". As a result no alcohol was ever listed on the meal vouchers issued!

At one job, my office was way down the hall from everybody else. So, I made sure that I always had a full candy dish (with Halloween sized candy bars, making sure that it was stuff that I didn't personally care for). Not only was my office the most popular for meetings, but whenever we needed some support from another part of the company, we always arranged for it to be in my office. For some strange reason, we always got better service that way...
 
Bart

There have been many studies and much research on this subject. The one I've seen, and can't find it now, that made the most sense concluded that the best motivators were those that allowed the individuals to use their own initiatives to make contributions to whatever was at hand--- AND to be recognized for their contributions but not necessarily with financial rewards.
They concluded that financial incentives, Awards, trips etc were only useful for short term and appealed to the lower levels of employees.
Free lunches, pizza parties, donuts, etc never motivated me or any of my co-workers that I discussed it with.
Nice gestures, appreciated but not motivating. People come to expect it every once in a while anyway.
Potlucks are Demotivators! Used to be that everyone brought something special that they made from scratch. People today pick up a bag of chips or a pre-made relish tray at the supermarket or some other prepared food.
Potlucks have gone to pot!
Tell me I'm doing a good job and appreciated and recognize my contribution and I'll bust my butt.

My AZ Friend,
  I wail and gnash my teeth because your evaluation of 'Pot-Lucks' is so accurate. Since working lunches are no longer part of my routine, I will carry my lament over to the neighborhood school or church dinners, that for years were points of pride and honor for the ladies in the community, showing off their skills.  Now I dread counting the KFC Buckets and the pies still in the  store boxes with the day-old price tags showing brightly.
   There are things that have been lost in the rush to the future...and the Pot-Luck is one of the bigger losses.

mayor al

My AZ Friend,
I wail and gnash my teeth because your evaluation of 'Pot-Lucks' is so accurate. Since working lunches are no longer part of my routine, I will carry my lament over to the neighborhood school or church dinners, that for years were points of pride and honor for the ladies in the community, showing off their skills.  Now I dread counting the KFC Buckets and the pies still in the  store boxes with the day-old price tags showing brightly. 
There are things that have been lost in the rush to the future...and the Pot-Luck is one of the bigger losses.

Good Mayor,
You said it better than I. Just one of those qualities of life left by the roadside.