Incentive Intelligence

Energized Ignorance

I apologize for the sporadic posts lately.  I have a bit more than usual on my plate and some things just get pushed down the list.  Unfortunately, this site is one of the things that has to suffer. 

I posted a few days back about "Energized Incompetence" and hopefully communicated that not only do you need to ensure people have a reason to change behavior but that they also have the skills.  Without the skills they just run around looking busy and hoping something works.  I've been pondering the whole idea of motivation and direction of effort after that post and I think we miss the real issue 9 out of 10 times. 

The issue is this... engaged and satisfied employees (or channel partners and consumers) are just that - engaged and satisfied.  They aren't necessarily motivated to do anything.  Satisfaction and engagement are the requirements for motivation - not the cause.  Ensuring your employees and customers are engaged simply sets the stage for motivation.  They create a blank slate on which our goals and objectives are writ. 

I think we just assume that if someone is engaged and satisfied they are motivated.

Tagging onto the "energized" theme - I thought of another one - "Energized Ignorance."

If people don't know what you want them to do - even if they have the skill and the motivation - the result still suffers.  Energized Ignorance occurs when you provide an incentive to do something but your communication is garbled or confusing.  Programs that include conflicting objectives - ie:  increase customer service and reduce call time - create this state.  Pair that with a lack of skill and you have a disaster in the making. 

Our goal has to be to provide these engaged and happy folks with a direction and a plan that is clear and unambiguous.  Without proper communication and training we do our audience a disservice.  In addition, by launching a poorly designed and communicated plan actually reduces engagement and satisfaction - creating an unholy downward spiral.  Unfortunately, most companies just increase the award value and hope to spend their way out of the problem.

Take a step back and look at your communications.  Is it clear what they need to do?  Do they understand the results you are looking for and are those results connected to behaviors they have control over? 

There is an old saying that goes something like - "Don't try to teach a pig to dance.  It wastes your time and annoys the pig."  Same goes for your incentive and reward strategies.  Make sure you communicate clearly and the audience knows what to do.  No amount of "incentive" can overcome those two hurdles.

Double Your Pleasure

Today is a "2-fer" for Incentive Intelligence.

Two posts on two separate sites.

First:  My monthly column on Incentive Magazine is up - "The Difference Between Incentives and Recognition."  Not just the spelling my friend - there are core differences that impact success.

And two... a post on Fistful of Talent (FOT.) 

You may have noticed the badge on the left side of this blog highlighting FOT.  Sponsored by the IPQC and a featured blog on Workforce.com - FOT pulls together the opinions of a rag-tag group of folks with opinions and the background to back them up.  Great reads covering a lot of different angles on Talent Management.  Click over and subscribe!

Not Enough RAM

Many (too many) times I have used the excuse when I forget a task that with all that's going on in the business world today that I "don't have enough available RAM (random access memory for those technically challenged.)"  There are so many things that seem to be front and center in the ongoing activity of consulting and writing and thinking (oh my) that something is bound to slip through. 

Unfortunately, you can't just plug in another stick of memory and reboot your brain to get more RAM.  And based on this article from MSNBC your ability to remember things is actually shrinking.

It used to be thought that a person could hold seven (7) things in short-term memory - hence the seven (7) digits of phone numbers.  However, new research shows that the number may be closer to four (4).

What does this have to do with reward programs? 

Your audience cannot hold more than a couple of objectives, goals, targets in mind when combined with all the other stuff they need to maintain in their biological RAM.  I've had to reign in many a client when they start to list the 10 things the program should impact, or the 10 things a person has to do to earn an award.

Think about it.  If your brain can only hold four things in short-term memory at a time (an two of them are taken up with some life-maintenance activity like paying the light bill or remembering an anniversary) then how will your audience ever remember what they need to do to earn an award.

Keep the target list simple, short and behavior based.  Remind them regularly and by all means - accept that on a few days during the program all slots in their head will be filled with something that is more important than the program you've designed.

Keeping it simple is the best way to keep it the forefront of their minds.

Really, it's not you it's me...

One of  the things that is consistently tossed around in the incentive and performance improvement industry is the fact that the "new kids" that make up the participant base don't get it.  I'm hearing that the programs being run don't work on them - they want instant, they want choice, they want freedom.  What's wrong with an online catalog?  Why do they need real-time standings updates - and on their phone?!  How can we communicate with them if they spam block my program emails?

Well, just maybe its not them.

On the Manage To Change blog is this short post - it's a quick read but it captures this issue exactly.

To quote Ann Michael from the post...

At a recent parent teacher conference with my son’s Science teacher, I happened to notice that the best overall grade in the class was a 76.  There were another two passing grades and every other student was failing!

Out of 16 students 3 (20%) were passing.

I asked the teacher about class performance. 

“This is a really bad group of kids.  I’m not doing anything differently than I have for the past 28 years and I’ve never had this happen before.  I know it’s not me.”

You haven’t changed your approach for 28 years and you consider yourself blameless?

She then goes on to tell another story of how a panelist at a presentation on Web 2.0 applications was monitoring "tweets" (twitter messages) and adjusted the presentation in real-time based on the input from the audience.

Bottom line - if something isn't working, don't assume you're right. 

Sometimes, sometimes - it's not them... it is you.

Check in with your target audiences, listen and respond.  It's time for a wholesale change in how we interact, engage, influence and motivate.  It's only going to get tougher.

Some Praise for an Unexpected Email

Sometimes I just love being a blogger.  I love the fact that I can connect with someone I wouldn't normally connect with and see that that what I've been communicating has resonated with an audience member. 

Case in point. 

My "office" is in Dayton, OH, but I normally work remotely from South Carolina.  I know - heck of a commute but just spend one February in Ohio and one in South Carolina and you'll nod knowingly.  But on to the point...

I received an email from an employee of the company -  a person who works in our Mail/Shipping area.  Never met the guy (that I know of - but it's possible some time back) but he sent me an email with a link to an article on the web.   Here's the context of his email:

Good afternoon Paul,

In the unlikely event you’ve not seen or been forwarded this by now, I thought that in light of your blog, this might be of interest:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24293160/ 

The reason I love this is here's a guy who is important to the ongoing success of the enterprise but isn't client facing.  If he didn't understand what the company did he could probably still meet expectations in his position.  But the fact that he actually subscribes to the blog - and sees something on the web that might pique my interest - and it does - shows me he's an employee worth watching.

I find it refreshing when someone takes the effort to access everything the company offers and internalizes it and acts on it.  I also like the fact that he gets what I'm talking about.

The Article

The article referenced in his email is entitled:  "Praise is as good as cash to your brain"

What the article references is research conducted in Japan that showed through fMRI (functional magnetic resonance imaging) that the same area of the brain that is stimulated when you receive cash (or a monetary reward) is activated when given praise .  In addition, the same reward center responds when someone comments positively on your "social standing."

What this indicates, is that in a very base level in our brains, we get the same boost from our "reward" center in our brain for praise and increased social standing as we do when we get other types of "hard" rewards.

Now, I don't think this is the green-light to stop paying people and just start sending thank you notes instead of paychecks - but the implications for incentive and reward programs are varied.

Specifically, providing public standings of performance will "feel" like a tangible reward to people since it highlights their performance.  Sending kudos, and other notifications of praise can supplement any program and stimulate the recipients reward center, making them feel the same as if you sent a token gift.

From the article:

The fact that the social reward is biologically coded suggests that "the need to belong ... is essential for humans," said Sadato, whose study appears in the journal Neuron.

So - think about paying your participants"pocketbooks with tangible rewards AND filling their biological pocketbook with praise.

Here's to my buddy in the Mail Room - THANKS!  Keep'em coming!

PS:  I sent a note to his boss with a link to both the article and this post.  I do practice what I preach.