
What is a productivity incentive?

A productivity incentive is a form of motivation or reward given to individuals or teams to encourage and increase their productivity in the workplace. Read on to learn how to create an incentive plan for manufacturing employees.
Why use an incentive plan for manufacturing employees?
Using an incentive plan for manufacturing employees offers several benefits that can help improve productivity, efficiency, and overall performance within the organization.
Companies in the manufacturing industry that work with ourlinQ saw an 85% increase in projects that exceeded target margins in the last year.
How to Create an Incentive Plan for Manufacturing Employees: 5 Essentials to get you started. What are the essentials of a good incentive plan for production workers?
- Setting KPI’s Metrics, Targets or Goals
The key starting point of any incentive plan to reward employees is specific goals for each individual. All bonus payments need to be based on achieving these targets. Need help creating KPI’s? Download our guide here.
2. Budgeting for the bonus
Start out by budgeting with the same amount you budgeted last year. Only increase with increased revenue/performance in the company. Be transparent in your method with your employees. Help them to understand when performance improves, so does their bonus. We have found this a great component in building an incentive plan for manufacturing employees.
3. Metric Based Incentives (MBI)
Each employee should be incentivized to help achieve corporate, team and individual targets. Create a deck of MBIs that fit these criteria. Make sure the incentives are meaningful enough to drive improvement.
4. Employee Specific Scorecards
Create an employee specific scorecard by selecting basic MBIs relevant to their roles and responsibilities. Share the scorecard with them.

5. Feedback Results and Revisions
As your employees learn what it takes to increase their incentives, their performance will improve. Make revisions, if necessary, based on achieving the overall results you want.
Download our Ultimate Guide to P4P for manufacturing companies.
How do you structure an incentive plan for manufacturing employees?
Here are some steps on how to create an incentive plan for manufacturing employees:
- Define your goals.
What do you want to achieve with your incentive plan? Do you want to increase productivity, improve quality, or reduce costs? Once you know your goals, you can start to develop performance metrics that will measure progress.
- Identify the performance metrics.
What metrics will you use to measure employee performance? These could include things like production output, quality, safety, or customer satisfaction. It’s important to choose metrics that are relevant to your company’s goals and that can be easily measured. The ourlinQ software works with KPI’s. Learn how to create your own KPI’s here.
- Determine the amount of the bonus. How much will you pay out in bonuses? This will depend on your company’s budget and the difficulty of the goals. You’ll also need to consider the size of the bonus relative to the employee’s base salary.
- Set the frequency of bonus payments. How often will you pay out bonuses? This could be quarterly, annually, or even monthly. The frequency will depend on your company’s budget and the nature of the goals.
- Communicate your incentive plan to employees. Make sure that employees understand the incentive plan and how they can earn bonuses. This will help to motivate them to achieve the goals and to understand how their performance is being measured. Transparency in a bonus plan is key.
Here are some additional tips for creating an incentive plan for manufacturing employees:
- Make sure the goals are achievable but challenging.
- Set clear and measurable performance metrics.
- Make the bonus plan fair and equitable.
- Communicate the incentive plan to employees clearly and concisely.
- Track performance and make adjustments to the plan as needed.
By following these steps, you can create an incentive plan that will motivate and reward your manufacturing employees and help you achieve your business goals.

What are some examples of performance metrics that you could use for a manufacturing incentive plan?
- Production output: The number of units produced per hour, day, week, or month.
- Quality: The number of defects per unit or the percentage of units that meet quality standards.
- Safety: The number of accidents or injuries per month or year.
- Customer satisfaction: The number of customer complaints or the percentage of customers who would recommend your company to others.

You could also use a combination of these metrics to create a more comprehensive incentive plan. For example, you could set a goal of increasing production output by 10% and reducing defects by 5%. You could then award bonuses to employees who meet or exceed these goals.
By following these tips, you can create an incentive plan that will motivate and reward your manufacturing employees and help you achieve your business goals.
Sample incentive programs for manufacturing employees
At ourlinQ we have found that many companies just want a kick start to help them create the incentive plan of their dreams. So, we have created a few resources for your company.



Your employees are the key to your business success. Their performance has a more direct correlation on your business performance than any other factor. Stephen Covey said, “Most leaders would agree that they’d be better off having an average strategy with superb execution than a superb strategy with poor execution.” We’re in the game of helping your team execute your strategy. You know where you want to go, your team is the only one that can take you there. Paychecks bring your employees along for the ride. Add the right incentives, they’ll peddle too. By creating a good employee incentive program for manufacturing companies you’re on the path to a successful company.
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