The Incentive Research Foundation released an executive briefing entitled
2012 Trends in Rewards and Recognition, which shows emerging trends for 2012. Some of the top trends include:
- Personalization. Increased use of award elements such as gift cards allow employees to discount "fun purchases" or use the reward to ease up their monthly bills. Using flexible award elements such as gift cards allows employees to choose how they want to direct their award currency.
- Participation. Using incentives as part of a health and wellness program have been shown to increase participation by 26% to 90%, and offer employers an ROI of about $3 for every $1 invested.
- Convenience. Integrating incentives programs across multiple platforms like mobile applications increase communication between employees and employers, as well as provide more convenience, flexibility, and ease of use for the employee.