Tell Us Johnny... What Did the Losers Get?

Is This Incentive Glass Half-Full or Half-Empty?

From time to time a reader will send me some interesting tidbit from the web as post fodder.  Just to let you know – I love it!  After almost 5 years of blogging you start to get a bit hungry for new items to write about.  I can’t just pick on Dan Pink all the time – that’s just mean.

The other day Heather Rolette – Manager of Hosted events for SAP send me a link to an article about Just Born – the company that makes those candies you love to hate or hate to love – Peeps, Mike and Ike and Hot Tamales.  Ah... the standard fare of most megaplex theaters.

Seems Just Born put in place an interesting incentive program that I don’t know how to evaluate. I know – a first.  

The Back Story – Fargo or Bust!

Here’s the recap from the story on Yahoo...

"The company that makes Hot Tamales candy offered its sales team an all-expenses-paid trip to Hawaii if it met its annual goals, and a trip to the nation's arctic tundra if it didn't.

The Just Born team did not meet its target and, on Tuesday, about two dozen salespeople gathered inside the 19-story Radisson hotel — the tallest building in frozen Fargo.

Outside, the temperature was 7 degrees. The ground had 2 feet of snow.

Not exactly Hawaii: Honolulu was sunny, and a comfortable 82 degrees.

In addition to the lovely weather they were treated to an all-you-can eat spaghetti dinner at the local VFW, winery tours (who knew Fargo –wine country) and a screening of the movie Fargo, in Fargo.  They also took some time to do a little company PR by handing out candy to the locals.

As one “winner” said... "As a team, this is something we will never forget," Bayha [a Just Born manager] said. "Twenty to 30 years down the road, when we see each other, we're going to say, 'Remember Fargo?'"

I’m Confused...

So here’s my dilemma... on the surface I’d never recommend a program where you have an award for attainment and then a punishment for non-attainment.  It’s so Glengarry Glen Ross (steak knives anyone?)  On the other hand – they did have a sales increase of 2% (Hawaii was earned at 4%) – so there was some performance bump.  

I don’t know the details of why the goal wasn’t met – could have been economy, could have been something else.  I’m also not sure how they communicated the program or how they count sales – all things that could impact the results. 

What I do know is this - punishment may probably have been the best thing they could have done.  

Building Shared Experiences

Sales teams and their companies need to trust each other.  Trust is one of those things that grows incredibly strong through shared experiences – shared hardships even more so.  Just Born gave their sales people a punishment that brought them closer together, created a cultural touchstone that will be talked about and referenced for a long, long time.  The trip to Fargo probably created a more cohesive and purpose-driven team than any trip to Hawaii could have.

Now the article doesn’t mention whether spouses were part of the Hawaii package (it would seem from the copy in the article they were not in attendance in Fargo) – which could have impacted the performance as well.  I know if I had the chance to earn a trip to Hawaii without my wife – there might be some pressure from home to NOT work to hard – especially if there are a couple of single, beauty contest winners on the sales staff (Have you seen me?  It is a real concern for my wife – it is my curse.)

So – here’s where I land on this...

Normally – not a good idea to create a “losers’ award.”

But – in this case they may have started something that will continue to drive team performance in the future.  They have already planned next year’s event – Rapid City, SD – if they fall below sales targets.  Unfortunately, this year's trip may have been so much fun – they could just take a dive so they can repeat the experience in Rapid City.

What do you all think?  It might make more sense now to make Hawaii the award for the loser’s bracket.

I’m (another first) at a loss for words... You guys take if from here... 

Oh... and just for fun - who knew there as such a thing as Peep Jousting... (email and RSS subscribers may have to click through here to see embedded video...)

 

 

 

 

Comments

[Sybil F. Stershic]

Paul, I think Just Born is brilliant in engaging their sales team this way. I'm a bit biased since I live near the company and know David and Ross, Just Born's co-CEOs. And because I'm familiar with the leadership and the company culture they created & maintain, I don't think they need to worry about underperformance.

[Michpoko]

Hi Paul,
Interesting for sure! I wonder if the reward had been the Fargo trip (vs Hawaii) with no 'punishment' what the results would have been... While the 'rational' mind says Hawaii is a much better reward option, I wonder if the unique, quirky, one-of-a-kind experience of the Fargo adventure wouldn't have better held their attention, focus and mindful action towards their goals, resulting in better performance?

[Bret Simmons]

I used to live in Fargo, and I've stayed at that hotel. And BTW, it's not tundra. If you want that, you have to send your folks to Fairbanks, Alaska (I've also lived there).

[Paul Hebert]

Thanks for the comments Sybil. After I saw the article I knew that even a trip to Fargo was a reward... even if they didn't hit the 4%. I'm guessing there was more bonding in the snow and cold than there ever would have been in Hawaii. Based on you comments I'm sure that performance at Just Born is more function of their core DNA than any "award" would drive - the award is just the icing.

Hope you have a great 2011!

[Paul Hebert]

Shared experiences build teams - really bad shared experiences build great teams. I'm not sure if you could duplicate the event by eliminating the Hawaii option. I think the contrast part of the equation is critical to getting the energy around it... sort of a shared "loss." By simply using Fargo as a destination without the Hawaii comparison would have seemed - well - cheap. This put the Fargo option in their hands - and they then had to make the best of it - building that shared experience.

Sort of like irony - you need the comparison for it to work no?

[Paul Hebert]

I'm sure Just Born is considering Fairbanks next - but the goal will probably have to higher! :)

Thanks for playing Brett - have a safe and happy holiday season.

[Michpoko]

Good point. Still I wonder if Fairbanks were the 'loss' reward next year, would it have the same avoid punishment effect after the team experienced Fargo? I bet some might see a similar chance to 'create' their own unique reward and team experience just as or more appealing than the 'win' reward? Wonder what that might do to performance?

[Paul Hebert]

This is what I meant by trying to "duplicate" the event. The natural tendency would be to try to reproduce the emotion of the Fargo event - and you couldn't. That was a product of that point in time and that situation. It would be an interesting task to try to develop next year's event. Thanks for all your comments.