The 2026 IRF Trends Report highlights how incentive professionals are navigating rising costs, geopolitical uncertainty,...
Research / Incentive Program Design for Crisis Recovery
by Incentive Research Foundation
When the COVID-19 pandemic struck in early 2020, incentives professionals were challenged to develop new strategies to keep their people and teams motivated. As the industry takes measures to recover from the pandemic, many businesses have new goals.
Best practices and principles in effective employee incentive program design are critical components of motivating and rewarding a workforce that may be fundamentally changed by pandemic.
Each of the articles in this report is informed by IRF, other related research, and the insights of nineteen industry professionals whose perspectives range from incentive program design and program ownership, to corporate executives who use incentive programs to motivate their employees.
Crises like COVID-19 influence the manner, emphasis, and degree to which the principles and practices of effective reward program design should be applied. Thus, each of the articles offers insight into how organizations might adapt and use incentives and rewards to address the immediate challenges presented by the pandemic and how incentives can accelerate recovery.
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