I wouldn't say that ALL incentive programs suck. We have one at my work, but it's a bit non-traditional, and I like it that way.

Basically, we get QAed twice every month. Those scores are averaged to give us a QA score for the month. Then, that score is computed with three other scores: how much time we spend on the phone (my work is, obviously, phone-based and we're given a specific amount of "extra" time every day to do things like put notes into the computer after a call or take an unscheduled break to go that bathroom or what have you), what our survey scores are (we ask clients to take an optional survey at the end of the call about the service we agents have provided... a significant portion of them do), and how many absences and tardies we have. Each month, based on that combined score, we're given a specific number of points. These points can be traded in for extra money, each point being worth a specific amount (taxable, sadly). But there are other things that this incentive program does as well... it can give you an extra day off, paid or not, planned or not, depending on the points you spend, a "casual day", wherein you can wear whatever you want rather than business casual, prioritizing you in the que to get off of work early (that time off is unpaid) or you can even be prioritized in the que for your choice of shift when we do our yearly shift reorganizing. I LOVE this program because it offers non-traditional incentives. I like the money and all, but I've only used that a couple of times (around Christmas, for example). What I like more is things like prioritizing getting off early (on days I would just like to go home), the yearly shift thing, and... well, there's a couple of incentives I haven't mentioned that I enjoy, too.

The important thing here is that the things we're given points for are things we're expected to do anyway. I'm expected to get a certain percentage on my QA or risk losing my job (after a certain number of bad QAs). I'm expect to be on the phone as much as possible. I'm expected to show up to work every day. I'm expected to do well on the surveys (those are averaged to account for anomalies).

But, for instance, by not using my "extra" time, I benefit (my overall score is higher, leading to more points) and so does the company (that's more time that I spent on the phone). I've known people who were not feeling their best, but not necessarily sick enough to really justify staying home, who have gone to work, saying "I don't want to lose out on the points". I have gotten off early SEVERAL times because of prioritizing, which actually saves the company money because the computer will only allow us to go home early if the call volume is low.

And a lot of these things don't cost the company any money (casual days, shift scheduling, and leaving work early) and some of them actually benefit the company (saving money spent on hourly wages by the company when call volume is low). But it DOES help with morale... I know one woman who takes an extra casual day every week (Fridays are casual already) and she's much happier because of it. While that doesn't appeal to me as much (I don't mind what I wear to work), I DO take advantage of getting off early sometimes and I'm saving up to get onto the shift I want.

So, some incentive plans are helpful. I think it just depends how they're done.