Top Trends for Incentive Programs in 2024 Address Changing Workforce and Economic Pressure

Washington, DC (January 23, 2024): The Incentive Research Foundation is pleased to announce the release of its signature study, The IRF 2024 Trends Report. As we begin 2024, incentives and recognition continue to be important tools for organizations. Leadership sees their value, employees are motivated by them, and the industry is positioned for a successful year. Yet given the current economic climate, incentive professionals are balancing the need to create transformative programs with the reality of inflation and budget constraints.  

“The demands of a changing workforce raise the expectations for incentives to boost engagement, build company culture, and motivate improved performance,” said Stephanie Harris, President, IRF. “As we enter 2024, incentive professionals face increasing pressure on budgets while still developing strategic and creative ways to deliver exciting, motivational programs.”

The top trends for incentive, reward, and recognition programs in 2024 include:

Increasing Importance of Incentives to Motivate Today’s Workforce: Incentive and recognition programs are considered a key to culture building and are instrumental in bringing together and motivating a more dispersed workforce.

Inflation Continues, and Budgets are Hit Hard: While incentive program budgets are increasing, prices are often rising at a faster pace. Budgets are often increased to maintain a program, and do not indicate incentive program growth.

Artificial Intelligence is Increasing Efficiency and Impact: With transformative potential, AI can be used to enable greater personalization in rewards and shift towards true individualization, tailoring travel experiences and merchandise rewards to specific employees.

The Workforce is Getting Younger and Priorities are Shifting: Programs that utilize points, gift cards, and spiffs align with younger workers’ preference for frequent, authentic recognition.

To read the full list of trends, and to view or download a copy of the full report, please visit The IRF 2024 Trends Report webpage.

Thank you to our Research Advocacy Partner

Brightspot Incentives & Events is a marketing programs company that helps Fortune 1000 companies drive performance improvement and sales engagement through sales incentive programs, group incentive travel, and full-service meeting management. We combine exceptional execution, custom web development, industry-leading creative services, and award-winning incentive designs to drive motivation and real results. We want to be a bright spot for our individual customers and make their incentive or event the bright spot for their company. Visit www.gobrightspot.com