Recent research from the Incentive Research Foundation (IRF) has shown that men and women respond differently to incentives and rewards in the workplace. The analysis, which was based on social science studies and proprietary surveys, looked at which types of rewards are more effective in increasing employee satisfaction and engagement.
The results show that women more often prefer non-monetary incentives such as experiences or luxury items, while men prefer monetary rewards. The IRF stresses that these differences play a significant role in the success of incentive programmes. The research also highlights that well-communicated, well-detailed non-monetary rewards often have a greater impact on both sexes than monetary rewards.
The study concludes that employers can benefit from taking these gender preferences into account by developing personalised reward schemes where possible to improve effectiveness and employee loyalty. IRF’s research also cites important statistics: women make up more than 47% of the US workforce and will rely even more on women in the future.
However, different opinions have been expressed on the subject. A 1995 study, for example, found little difference in gender preferences for workplace values and concluded that emphasising differences merely reinforces traditional gender stereotypes and perpetuates inequalities in the workplace. It may be advantageous for organisations to argue that women prefer non-cash rewards and men prefer cash rewards, but there is no conclusive research to support this. This does not mean that the findings of previous research suggesting differences in incentive preferences between women and men should be dismissed. In any case, the various studies indicate that the use of personalised incentive schemes may be the most effective way to increase employee satisfaction and motivation (C&IT).