Retaining talented staff is vital to building a thriving business. A simple incentive program can foster a working environment that promotes employee engagement and job satisfaction and improves productivity and revenue.
At Joyce Merck Florist in Gainesville, Georgia, Operations Manager Tabitha “Tabby” Keys encourages employees to reach new goals by offering incentives. Keys, who was featured in the March-April issue of Floral Management, found inspiration for the program from a presentation at the Society of American Florists’ annual convention last year.
“Essentially, we’re incentivizing people to do what they’re paid to do,” Keys says. “But with the right goals, the program offers a way to get people to step up their game, maybe by trying new things or increasing productivity. When a designer realizes they can produce 15 designs in one day when they normally do seven, that’s a win for everyone.”
The slower summer months are the perfect time to roll out incentive programs that drive results. Whether your goal is to boost productivity, increase average order value, or motivate your team during peak periods, a well-timed incentive can pay off in a big way.
Increase Designer Productivity
If you have a large shop with high sales volume, increase designer productivity by switching them from hourly employees to paying them on a per-piece basis. Remove any non-design tasks from their workload. “Per-piece designers only design and get paid a percentage of the retail value of every design they create,” says Chris Drummond, AAF, PFCI, of Penny’s by Plaza Flowers in Philadelphia. “Those employees are 100% incentivized and very entrepreneurial and extremely productive.”
Lower Cost of Goods
If your cost of goods is too high, task your staff with lowering it by a set percentage. Then offer a portion of that as a bonus to anyone who directly impacts COGS if they can hit the target, suggests Derrick Myers, PFCI, CPA, CFP, president of the accounting firm Crockett & Myers Associates. For example, if you want to lower your COGS by 5%, offer to split 1% of the savings with your purchasing manager and designers. The purchasing manager will be motivated to seek better deals while designers will be less likely to overstuff arrangements.
Move Old Inventory
If you have a glut of old containers, you can encourage your designers to use them by tagging the containers and paying $1 for each one the designers use when creating a designer’s choice arrangement, says Myers. Keep track of how many containers a designer used by having them initial the tags and turning them in.
Team Building
To help staff get to know one another, Keys has each team member create a poster about themselves, describing things like hobbies, families or favorite foods. She then creates a questionnaire that challenges each person to visit with other employees to fill in the blanks. Once staff completes questionnaires, their names go into a drawing for a gift card.
“That task isn’t difficult, but it offers an easy way to help staff get to know one another,” Keys says. “Our owners have provided a family environment where we share life together, sharing in each other’s joys and trials. They want each person to be loved, heard and seen — to know that they’re worth something.”
To learn more about different types of incentive programs, how to set them up and common pitfalls to avoid, read “Incentives to Inspire” in the March-April issue of Floral Management.
Julie Martens Forney is a contributing writer for the Society of American Florists.
