There seems to be a fine line when it comes to introducing incentives to employees for participating in internal contests and promos. I am facing a typical issue…with the noble intention of making the intranet a truly fun place to visit, I put up a plan to popularize the pages with fun events and activities online. To drive traffic and participation, the concept of introducing prizes can be viewed in two ways and I am writing this to help other internal communicators overcome challenges they may face.
First, some organizations view incentives as a necessary evil to get participation. It helps build internal brands and improve engagement.
On the other hand, there is the school of thought that employees should ideally participate with or without incentives – since the programs are directed at them.
 To me, this is also a factor of the organization’s culture and values.
