Congratulations! You’ve decided to motivate your team with a new rewards program. A professionally-designed program is a great way to boost employee morale and engagement.
Now it’s time to name it. Although this should be one of the fun parts, finding the perfect name can be frustrating. A creative, catchy name for your incentive program makes a great first impression, helping mold how employees feel about the program even before they know what it involves. The best name for your program should fit your organization’s culture, while still sounding like something people would want to join. Here are some great ways to find that name.
Creative Names for Incentive Programs
Glossaries, Thesauruses, and Other Naming Goodness
Glossaries are great for naming. Calls Per Agent is a call center glossary term, and your program could create its own CPA Rewards. Using an industry insider’s term as part of your program name helps to include your people from the start. It can also be a great reminder of what your organization is trying to accomplish, your industry metrics.
Thesauruses (or thesauri, if you must) are also great sources for names and can help you get into your creative mode. Although browsing synonyms for “success” and “achievement” are fine starting points, look for terms related to your industry.
You can get great name ideas from lots of industry sources: trade association sites, trade publications, and industry conference sites all use language familiar to you and your workforce. Browse a few of your favorites, noting likely terms that could work for your program name. Don’t forget to check for glossaries while you’re there.
Set the Theme
Creative and catchy names for incentive programs make positive brand impressions every time they’re used. Themed naming can start the process—telling people something about the program before they even know the details. Achievement and success-themed names can acknowledge the work being recognized as well (e.g. Path To Greatness; Reach the Mountaintop).
Brainstorming
Brainstorming is a specific technique for generating ideas. Harvard Business Review has noted that group efforts can work against creativity, so you may be better off having the brains in question do their storming separately, at least to begin. If you want to share notes afterwards and work as a group from those ideas, we won’t tell.
Have a contest
It’s amazing how creative employees can get when recognition is on the line. Try having them compete to design logos. And who wouldn’t want to name an amazing program? Be careful of movie themes though. Your programs should have longevity. You don’t want to name a program that can be dated in a year. Remember: you are building a long-lasting brand.
Keeping It Catchy
Brevity = Wit
Keep your program name short and memorable. That probably means leaving out the word “program.”
It can be tempting to use lottery-sounding names but Millionaire Mania doesn’t capture the spirit of your employee incentive program. Unless you actually plan to hand out ingots, naming the program Gold Rush could disappoint. Although rewards should be something that people actually want to earn, they aren’t the sole motivator or even necessarily the most effective one. The best employee incentive programs combine worthwhile tangible rewards with public recognition and praise from ownership and senior management.
Whatever your final choice may be, you’ll likely use that name for years. You don’t have to nail it down right after reading this. Give yourself a few days to make sure you pick the right one. And don’t forget to have fun!
Incentive Programs That Get Results
If you now have your program name in mind, you’re off to a good start. If you’re stuck, we’d love to help. Either way, let’s talk. Inproma creates reward and recognition programs designed to help your organization reach its strategic goals. Tell us what you’re trying to accomplish, and we’ll help make it happen.
