The demands of a changing workforce and economic pressures are among the trends identified in The Incentive Research Foundation’s signature study, The IRF 2024 Trends Report, which was released today.

It reveals that, as we being 2024, incentives and recognition continue to be important tools for organizations. Leadership sees their value, employees are motivated by them, and the industry is positioned for a successful year. Yet given the current economic climate, incentive professionals are balancing the need to create transformative programs with the reality of inflation and budget constraints.

“The demands of a changing workforce raise the expectations for incentives to boost engagement, build company culture, and motivate improved performance,” said Stephanie Harris, president, IRF. “As we enter 2024, incentive professionals face increasing pressure on budgets while still developing strategic and creative ways to deliver exciting, motivational programs.”

The top trends for incentive, reward, and recognition programs in 2024 include:

• Increasing Importance of Incentives to Motivate Today’s Workforce: Incentive and recognition programs are considered a key to culture building and are instrumental in bringing together and motivating a more dispersed workforce. They are also a critical means to retain talented employees.
• Inflation Continues, and Budgets are Hit Hard: While incentive program budgets are increasing, prices are often rising at a faster pace. Budgets are often increased to maintain a program, and do not indicate incentive program growth.
• Artificial Intelligence is Increasing Efficiency and Impact: With transformative potential, AI can be used to enable greater personalization in rewards and shift towards true individualization, tailoring travel experiences and merchandise rewards to specific employees.
• The Workforce is Getting Younger and Priorities are Shifting: Programs that utilize points, gift cards, and spiffs align with younger workers’ preference for frequent, authentic recognition.

To read the full list of trends, and to view or download a copy of the full report, visit The IRF 2024 Trends Report webpage.