7 Tips for Rewarding Global Incentive and Recognition Winners

During the Incentive Marketing Association's virtual global forum, held April 28, members from across the globe shared their best practices for creating motivational and meaningful programs and rewards for multiinational, cross-cultural participants. 

The participants concluded that incentive and recognition programs designed to reward multinational firms’ employees, channel sales teams and customers should address the wide range of winners’ local mores, rules and economic conditions, as well as winners’ reward preferences.

Following are these IMA incentive professionals' recommendations for organizing successful global programs:

• Meaningful recognition is about personalization and emotional connection — whether through merchandise, gift cards or unique rewards such as livestock in remote regions — ensuring recipients feel genuinely appreciated.
• Cultural differences can impact recognition preferences significantly. In Japan, for example, team recognition is preferred rather than recognizing individual employees.
• Successful international incentive programs require collaboration with local leadership and partners to navigate a country's or region’s regulations, tax laws, logistics, value-added tax and compliance rules, as well as winners’ reward preferences. 
• Factor in the economic realities of different countries and populations — for example, taking into account the cost of living, the currency exchange and the infrastructure of the destination.
• Take time to research packaging requirements, legal disclosures, customer-service expectations and product restrictions. These vary by country and region.
• Note that incentive-reward preferences differ globally, with merchandise remaining highly valued in regions like Latin America, while North American recipients prefer gift cards.
• In many cultures, generational shifts are changing recognition expectations. For instance, younger employees prefer frequent, personalized and peer-to-peer recognition experiences over traditional long-term service awards.