Incentive Intelligence

Are Incentives Bribes?

I had a brief twitter exchange last night with Jeremy Meyers (his site here).  The conversation from tweetdeck is represented in the image on the right (first tweet at the bottom of image, edited for space, time and content.)

The discussion started when the concept of Autonomy, Mastery and Purpose (AMP) surfaced in relation to incentives.  For many, since Dan Pink’s book, Drive came out, the concept of AMP is now the gold standard for motivation, to the exclusion of all other forms of incentives.

The key tweet in that exchange that provided me with this post was when Jeremy said: 

“nobody wants to be bribed to do a good job.  we’re adults.”

Jeremy is right.  

First and Foremost – Incentives Aren’t Bribes – Or Are They?

Initially I was going to jump on the use of the word bribe – assuming the definition for bribe would be different than the definition for incentives.  

Uh oh.  They’re not.

For those who don’t want to go google it… here are the definitions:

in•cen•tive  (n-sntv)  n.

Something, such as the fear of punishment or the expectation of reward that induces action or motivates effort.

bribe  (brb)  n.

1. Something, such as money or a favor, offered or given to a person in a position of trust to influence that person's views or conduct.

2. Something serving to influence or persuade.

A Rose by Any Other Name

There is so little difference in the definition of those two words they could be used interchangeably.  And that is the black shroud that covers the entire incentive discussion today.  Heck, in Europe (at least in the British blogs I follow) they use the word “schemes” to define incentive programs.  Combine a bribe with a scheme and you get such a negative image it’s no wonder companies are looking for other ways to achieve results.

I can’t argue the word choice – technically incentives by definition are bribes.  I don’t like it but I’m stuck with it – thanks Mr. Webster.

In Context

But let me ask this…

• Is a tax credit for installing green energy options (solar panels, updated HVAC) a bribe?
   
• Are tax credits for education expenses a bribe?
   
• Are discounts on health insurance for taking a health screening exam a bribe?
   

Most of you would say no.  Why?  The application of the incentive defines it.

So in other words – incentives when properly designed (read that again) are not bribes. 

Incentives Aren’t About Doing a Good Job

This is where the real disconnect lies.  

Incentives shouldn’t be designed to drive people to do a “good” job.  Incentives should be designed to get people to do a “new behavior” or provide a reason to stop doing one that is counterproductive.

No business is set in concrete.  Every day something new and different is presented.  And in the vast majority of cases properly trained and managed folks in your organization can adapt and address those changes.  But in many instances the change your organization requires is much more than can be handled through autonomous responses from your employee base.

What if your organization needs to adopt a new reporting system, more complicated for the user but it will really drive business performance?  You need to get your employees to learn it and use it.  But what if your purpose-driven autonomous masters in the organization won’t change their behavior to use the new system?  What if the change is just a little too much for them to adopt on their own?  Wouldn’t a well designed incentive to try the system, use it and train people on it be more effective than a mandate from on high?  That’s a good application of an incentive. 

In that case the incentive isn’t designed to bribe people to do a good job. It’s a way to break behavioral inertia and get employees to adopt a NEW behavior.

Don’t get me wrong. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – providing autonomy in a job focused on a specific purpose is a good thing.  Do it.  

As adults in most normal, well-run organizations we don’t need to be bribed to do a good job.  That’s a fact.  

If your team is doing a good job, are connected and aligned with the business purpose and are working to their potential - AND - your business isn't changing daily, hourly, weekly - you don’t need an incentive program.  In fact, you could actually do more harm than good in this case.  

But let's not ignore a powerful and effective (when done right) way to guide new behaviors and remove bad ones.

Thoughts?  Are incentives always bribes?  

Why Autonomy, Mastery and Purpose Isn’t Enough

There is a lot of discussion lately about the “new” paradigm of motivation for our employees.  The discussion, driven by books such as "Drive" by Dan Pink and others before him, focus on the need to tap into a more noble vein and eliminate the plebian tools we used in the past, the awards and the incentives, and in their stead provide vision and direction but allow the individual to work autonomously, learn and grow and be part of a larger effort.  

I get that and I agree with it.  At a basic level this is good stuff.  But in a day-to-day business world it may not be effective. 

Strategic vision is important.  Getting people aligned is important.  But without incentives to really break behavioral inertial we’re doomed.

I could spend the rest of this post explaining why creating programs and plans that drive behavior are important.  I could harp on the role incentives and rewards play in those plans.  I can talk forever about designing programs that reward those that implement – and implement well.  But I’m not as good as the folks at the Daily Show are at bringing the problem home.

Comedy is truly a mirror on life – and in this case – a very, very clear mirror.  We can talk about autonomy, mastery and purpose as foundations for motivation but as this clip below clearly communicates (email viewers may need to click through to see video) – it is only a piece of the motivation puzzle and you need, dare I say it – self-interest driven programs that reward individual effort.  The same programs many are now abandoning in favor of the new age approach.

Watch.  Weep.  

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
An Energy-Independent Future
www.thedailyshow.com
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In closing…If you think about it – energy independence is the perfect new age issue that should work well in the Autonomy, Mastery, and Purpose world.  It is something we each can do on our own (autonomy) – it’s not difficult to master (drive more efficient cars, use fluorescent bulbs, etc.) and what greater purpose is there than saving the planet, our country and the economy?  

Yet… well… The video said it all. 

I ask you –without getting into a political mud-fight – why did none of these leaders achieve their goals?  Was it a lack of vision?  Was it that we weren’t given the autonomy or weren’t allowed to use our own skills or was the purpose just too soft?  Why?

The Road to Performance is Paved with Intentions – The Implementation Kind

While the road to hell may be paved with good intentions, performance can actually be improved based on good intentions.  I’m not making any moral comment on whether goal attainment and hell are analogous – just that research shows this to be true.

If you don’t follow Inside Influence you should.  The blog/newsletter/site run by Influence At Work.  IAW is the consultancy started by Dr. Robert Cialdini who authored “Influence – Science and Practice” – now in its 5th edition.  This book is always by my side and should be in your manager’s toolbox as well.

Recently they had a post on their site about increasing voting turnout by asking people to think about how they would get to the polls.  Excerpted from their post:

"The Voting Plan Script (i.e. implementation intentions script) was identical to the Self-Prediction Script but also asked three follow-up questions designed to encourage individuals to create a voting plan on the spot. These questions were, “What time will you vote?” “Where will you be coming from?” and “What will you be doing beforehand?” The notion here is that by answering these questions, individuals will be able to generate a concrete plan that actually takes into consideration all of their other obligations that day, one that will be simple to follow come Election Day."

The results showed that those that were asked about their plan to vote were more likely to vote than those that didn’t have to think about it.  While the lift was small (they have some good ideas as to why) it was still enough to indicate that planning influenced implementation.

How to Use With Your People

You can use this technique with your own staff.  When asking about goals and objectives – even small ones that normally wouldn’t require a big implementation exercise – ask the person how they would go about accomplishing the goal.  Ask what they would do first, second, third.  Get them to start visualizing the process ahead of time.  Creating the plan – even informally – will help with their follow through.

Sales people are routinely given goals and objectives.  I’ve been one (sales person) and had them every year.  I can say that in most cases however, I was never asked about how I planned on attaining them.  I always hit my goals (I’m special) but in many cases it would have been much easier had I spent just a few minutes thinking through the process right then.

Next time you talk about goals and objectives, get the people to outline their plan.  The plan doesn’t have to be perfect – just enough to start to position their behavior toward the goal as something that has already been decided (another commitment.)  

Go check out the post and subscribe to their updates.  I’ll close with what they closed with:

"This research makes it very clear that simply hearing “Yes” from another person is just a starting point, rather than an ending point, for persuasion. To optimize the likelihood that others will follow through with their intentions, consider specifically asking them how they plan to go about accomplishing the goal they’ve promised to pursue. This doesn’t need to be done in a micro-managing or demanding way. Rather, you could ask about the details as they relate to whether or not there are specific aspects of the tasks with which you can help."

So – how are you going to use this information?  What’s your plan?

Cold Showers and Incentive Planning

Ever take a shower with the knob turned to ALL cold water?

How about with the knob at ALL hot water? 

Neither of those options sounds very pleasant and in fact could cause a 3rd degree kind of harm.  Ouch!

I’m also betting that in some cases you want a shower that is hotter than normal – say when your back is bothering you or when you want to relieve some stress.  In other cases you may want a cooler than normal shower in order to cool off from working in the yard or because – well, we’ll leave that to the imagination.

The point is this – the temperature in the shower is a function of the ratio of cold and hot water and the context in which it is delivered.

Luke-Warm Reward Programs

After spending a few days at an industry conference (more posts to come on this) it occurred to me that many incentive companies and many providers would just as soon see you freeze to death or burn yourself until you look like Freddy Kruger.  

Depending on who you talk to you’ll hear – merchandise is best; gift cards are best; travel is best.  

Let me set the record completely and clearly straight...

Nothing is BEST

Like the shower, your mix of award options is a function of the context in which you’re using them.  

• Long-term strategy?  
• Short-term sales boost?  
• Reinforce corporate values?  
• Distribution channel or employee?  

The specific answers to each of these questions will drive varying program designs and varying award options.  

If you tell me you want to influence employees over a long period of time I might recommend a program with an award currency that can be saved or spent over a period of time allowing the participants to accumulate and redeem for larger award options.  If you’re looking at a one-time promotion focused on the distribution channel I might recommend a gift card solution.  If you want to reinforce an overall company value tied to an overall recognition culture I might recommend a group travel award with regional travel awards below it and some other non-cash awards.* 

(* All program prior program award recommendations are illustrative - your mileage will depend on your company culture, audience, goals, timing, etc., etc., etc.)

In other words – don’t take a cold shower when you need a hot one.  Don’t take a hot shower when you need a cold one.  

And the biggest mistake of all – don’t take a luke-warm shower all the time.  By keeping your shower handle in the middle you miss out on all the benefits your shower can provide.

Same goes with your incentive and reward activity.  Sticking with the “middle” assures you that you won’t get the best results – or the worst.  

You’ll just end up with middle of the road results - not the results you want and deserve.

Incentives Aren’t Just For Sales

Often we get asked to come in and review a client’s sales incentive program.  Sometimes it is for their sales organization, other times it is a program targeted at their distribution channel or agent network.  The only difference in the client's mind is that for one group the incentive is a W-2 event – in the other it’s a 1099.  The basic goal is the same – target people who sell.

After listening for a while I usually asked why they run the program.  The answer is usually – increase sales.  

I then go through the oft-quoted “5-questions” process…

Question: “Why increase sales?” - Answer: “Increase revenue.”

Question: “Why increase revenue?” – Answer: “Increase profit.”

Question: “Why increase profit?” - Answer: “That’s what our stakeholders/shareholders want”

Question: “Is that the only way to increase profit?” – Answer: “No.”

Question: “What other ways could you increase profit?” – Answer: “What’s that got to do with an incentive program?”
 

Me:  “Glad you asked….”

Most companies assume incentives are only about sales.  They also assume that sales is the one place where incentives have the biggest impact on a company’s revenue and profitability.  For some reason most companies look at profit as a function of sales more than they do in than any other area of the company.  However, focusing on other areas of the company can have a huge impact on profit without touching revenues.  I’ve found many companies that have a treasure trove of opportunities for increasing profit buried deep in their company’s operations.

When I get the question on “what’s that got to do with an incentive?” I bring out the chart below (I think I’ve mentioned this before but after a 600 or so posts the mind gets fuzzy.)

 

  
Take a look at the chart.  The purpose is simple – connect the activities that lead to increasing shareholder/stakeholder value in a company to activities that can be influenced and impacted by a well-designed incentive and reward application.  

(You can download it here for use in your next meeting with the CEO – I give you permission to be smart!)

As you can see from the chart (and this is only a thought starter – each company is different and can probably add many, many other activities that impact overall company value) there are a ton of other ways to influence behavior in an organization that will increase profits and value for the ownership.

It’s Always About People

The key to understanding how to leverage incentives and rewards in an organization is to realize that ALL activities in a company are conducted by PEOPLE – and the outcomes are a function of their BEHAVIOR – and incentives affect behavior.

ANY outcome in a company begins and ends with behaviors.  Influencing those behaviors influences the outcomes.  

Your expertise in understanding your company and the costs and revenues that drive your profitability aligned with an understanding of how to influence behavior correctly (that’s a key word – don’t skip over it) can have a huge impact on your business bottom line.  

Don’t assume that sales is the only place where incentives can have an impact.  Review the chart and ask yourself – “Are you doing anything in any of the areas other than sales to positively impact behavior?”

If not – ask us.  We won’t pull any punches.

Influence Insider – Blogtalkradio – Brian Ahearn – Cialdini Influence Principles

That’s a lot to put in a headline.  But that’s what happens when you try to cram 5 lbs. of information into a 1 hour show (link to show here.)

On Wednesday April 7 we had the pleasure of talking with Brian Ahearn.   Brian is a Senior Sales Consultant who specializes in sales and customer service training, with an emphasis on applying influence and persuasion in everyday situations. He is one of only two dozen individuals in the world who currently hold the CMCT designation. This specialization in the psychology of persuasion was earned directly from Dr. Robert B. Cialdini – the recognized authority on the science of ethical persuasion. 

Dr. Cialdini says of Brian: 

"When Brian Ahearn speaks, people listen. That is so because he knows his material thoroughly, and he knows how to present it superbly. The upshot is that the genuine insights he provides are not just immediately understandable, they are also immediately actionable and profitable."

To his credit, Brian carried the hour almost by himself with examples and ideas on how to use proven principles of influence in an ethical way to drive behaviors.

We touched on employee wellness programs, 401K enrollments, sales calls, positioning attendance at webinars – you name it we found a way to get a discussion on influence going.

Brian blogs at Influence People and you can follow him on twitter at @BrianAhearn

The Principles of Influence

Click play above to listen to this show.

You really need to listen to the full show to get the most out of our discussion but in a nutshell we talked about the difference between ethical influence and manipulation.  Brian walked through the 6 principles of influence as outlined by Dr. Cialdini, that when applied in the appropriate setting and at the appropriate time, can have impressive impact on the likelihood someone will comply with your requests.  The principles include:

Reciprocity - People feel obligated to give back the same form of behavior they first received.

Liking - People prefer to say “Yes” to those they know and like.

Consensus - We look to others to see how we should respond in certain situations.

Authority - We typically look to those with superior knowledge or expertise when making decisions.

Consistency - People feel internal psychological pressure to be consistent in word and deed.

Scarcity - We value things more when we perceive they’re rare or diminishing.

My favorite - especially with all the hype surrounding social media is the Consensus principle.  We truly like to be part of the crowd and want to follow their lead.  In fact one of the most intriguing things I heard from Brian was that our brain actually processes exclusion from a social group as "pain."  Here's a link to Dr. Cialdini talking about this phenomenon.  

 

For more information on Influence I suggest you get and read, re-read, and then re-re-read the book Influence-Science and Practice. 

Stay tuned for our next show - May 5th at Noon EDT - I'll be updating you on our guest soon.

Merchandise, Travel and Cash – Oh My!

The trifecta of incentive program award outcomes:  Merchandise (stuff) purchased with points or awarded flat out; Travel awards –either individual or group; and Cash – the root of all evil (according to the Bible and Dan Pink).  

Most, if not every incentive program ever conducted includes one of these three options (many include all of them.)

Incentive companies will tell you cash is more expensive and less effective than merchandise and travel.  Travel suppliers will tell you that nothing is better than a group trip to celebrate success.  And some die-hard, old-school folks continue to scream “cash is king.”  I leave out debit cards just ‘cuz I think they neither provide the benefits of cash nor the emotion of merch/travel (but people seem to love’em.)

The truth, like so many courtroom dramas, lies somewhere in the middle.

All Awards Are Equal – Some Are Just More Equal Than Others

I posted a looooong time ago (July 2008) about the award trifecta with a bit of different spin.  The idea from that post (and I stand by it today) is that awards are “me” awards or “we” awards.  Cash being at the far end of the “me” spectrum and travel being at the far end of the “we” spectrum.  I just re-read that post and it’s a good one – check it out.

Since I focus on your outcomes not my awards, I have recommended everything from cash to group travel (sometimes I recommend no awards at all!)  I firmly believe that program design is the #1 thing you need to focus on if you want to hit your goals and reinforce appropriate behaviors.  But the awards you use are important as well.  

So - if you use awards in your program – what you use and how you communicate it – will have an effect on your audience.

Experience Trumps Stuff

This article from MSNBC on March 5, 2010 “To buy happiness, book a plane ticket.  Study: Life experiences make you cheerier than new stuff” takes on the award trifecta from a bit of a different angle – how happy you are with the choice.

The article highlights results published in the January issue of the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology showing that “experiences” make us happier in the long run and “things” create anxiety, jealously and decrease our happiness.

I don’t think the study is going out on a limb with this analysis – but it does reinforce the idea that in order to really engage the mind and the emotion of someone we need to move awards from the transactional part of the brain and move them to the social side.

From the study –

"The findings, based on eight separate studies, agree with previous research showing that experience-related buys lead to more happiness for the consumer. But the current work provides some insight into why.

Among the reasons:

• People are more likely to mull over their material purchases than they are experiential ones, second-guessing themselves about whether they really made the best choice. 
  
• We tend to think of experiences more on their own terms, rather than in comparison with other things. 
  
• It's easier for us to decide on an experiential purchase than a material one.
  
• We're more upset if we learn that someone else got a better deal, or that a better option exists, for a material purchase than for an experience-related one."

Now, I’ll be the first to say it – this study isn’t about people who received awards via an incentive program – they are talking about folks who “bought” their stuff so there might be differences in the outcome had they been “given” an award vs. paid for a trip or a toaster.  

However, I’m willing to bet that the results would be a bit similar in an audience of award recipients.  Just because I don’t hand over cash for an award – doesn’t mean there wasn’t a transaction.  I did do something to earn it and therefore there is a “transaction” in the back of my mind that I’ll be comparing the award to, so I’m pretty sure the study results would hold in incentive program participants.

Make It About An Experience

If you want to use cash (it does have a place) or merchandise  – you might be better off in the long run connecting that reward to an experience.  Some quick examples:

• When promoting the merchandise options in your program talk about the people will DO with the item – not the features of the item itself – “Imagine sitting back with your high-school buddies taking in the Super Bowl on your new 55” LED HD TV and know they are jealous of your hard work.”  That type of promotion will connect with the experience – and increase happiness.  Don’t talk about about 1080P, 240 HZ sub-field flux capacitor.  Not gonna help.
   
• Even your cash incentives can be targeted to the individual.  Highlight how the bonus can be used for their family vacation, new car, etc.  Don’t focus on the cash – focus on what the cash will allow them to DO.

Make your audience happier by focusing on how they will “experience” the award regardless of the reward type.  

Overall – you win – they win.

 

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Audience Engagement and 99 Luft Red Balloons

Actually 10 luft red balloons.

DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency - the grandparent to the internet) announced a challenge on December 5, 2009.  Find 10 red balloons placed randomly in the United States and win (earn) $40,000.  And you thought your tax money was wasted.

From their site:

To mark the 40th anniversary of the Internet, DARPA has announced the DARPA Network Challenge, a competition that will explore the roles the Internet and social networking play in the timely communication, wide-area team-building, and urgent mobilization required to solve broad-scope, time-critical problems.

The challenge is to be the first to submit the locations of 10 moored, 8-foot, red, weather balloons at 10 fixed locations in the continental United States. The balloons will be in readily accessible locations and visible from nearby roads.

The winners were a team from MIT that used, in their words - "a recursive incentive strategy."  Fancy words for "give us info we'll pay you."  Incentives do work. 

This week on Colbert Report they had one of the members of the winning team from MIT, Riley Crane, on the show.  Below is the video of the interview.  (Email subscribers may have to click through.)

What is fascinating to me is they found the balloons in.... wait for it...

8 hours 52 minutes.  

Watch Steven Colbert's reaction when Riley Crane tells him that.  

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
Riley Crane
www.colbertnation.com
Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor Economy

Your Take Away

Given a direction toward a goal, the tools to collect information and insights, and an incentive - your company could find solutions to your business issues.  This type of challenge can engage and energize your team.  Think about a few problems you want to solve at your organization.  Could getting smart people energized and connected solve them?  

As Riley Crane mentions in the video - if you have a clear target, with a verifiable solution, and can align individual self-interest with the greater goal - you can have remarkable results.

Sounds like an incentive program.

 

And just 'cuz it's fun....

 

 

The New Gospel of Motivation - Or Maybe Not

Yesterday I had the pleasure of listening in to a webinar sponsored by the American Management Association (AMA) focused on the content in Dan Pink's new book Drive - The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us.

Now you faithful followers of this blog will recognize the name since I've posted a few times about Dan Pink and his position that incentives and rewards are bad for business.  Well - sorta.  

What I really posted about is how the twitterverse and the blogosphere took up that ort of information (yes ort is a word - you crossword puzzle fans know it) from  his TED presentation and ran with it like man on fire.

Soon a new gospel of motivation was born:

The Book of Daniel 3:16-18

16 And lo a new prophet arose from the scribes and scholars and spoke of new ideas and new designs for the engagement of, and the lifting up, of employee spirits.  17 Daniel has proclaimed: "No longer thou shalt use carrots and sticks to drive desire.  No longer shall you provide rewards for good deeds based on promises and performances.  18 Nay, these tools are the tools of the Devil and thou shalt feel the wrath of the money changers in the market on thy stock prices should such instruments of destruction be found or practiced."

But There Are Other Verses

But like any information taken out of context it can have damaging affects.  And unfortunately, the content from Dan's presentation on TED was separated from the context and then muddled and garbled as it passed from tin-can to tin-can along the strings of the interwebs.  There were blogs and tweets proclaiming the death of incentives and rewards.  

In fact the Herman Group (mgt. consultants and futurists) recently did their predictions for HR in 2010 and their #9 prediction:

Some Employers will eliminate Reward Programs

Misunderstanding Dan Pink's new book, "Drive: The Surprising Truth about What Motivates Us", some employers will abolish their reward programs altogether. This ill-advised shift will cause significant, negative, unintended consequences.

But as usual, the reality is a bit different.  There are other verses to the new motivation gospel.

The Real Greatest Story

After listening to Dan's presentation yesterday I can tell you this - he does NOT believe incentives are the tools of the Devil.  He does believe that incentives have their place - along with other reward types such as recognition.  He does believe that Autonomy, Mastery and Purpose have more impact for creative, innovative and team-based applications.  

In other words - he believes the same stuff I do... and the same stuff I've been saying all along.

Check out the post I did on Dan Pink's point of view when it came out here.

The point I made then, and the point Dan makes, is that there are different things that motivate different people for different tasks.  

Again - no holy grail of motivation.  No "EASY" way out guys and gals.  Sorry.

Marketing Smarts He's Got

I got to give Dan props.  He is a marketing guy at heart and has done a great job of marketing his point of view.  I'm envious.  Some examples:

• He talks of Motivation 1.0, 2.0 and 3.0 (who doesn't love a techy approach today!)
• He has great categories for awards/rewards:
  - Baseline (compensation/benefits - I might argue this at a later date)
  - If-then (traditional conditional incentives - sell "x" get "y")
  - Now-that (recognition - after something is done well give award/praise/etc.)
• Under the Autonomy category he highlights four things that make up autonomy:
  - Task (what I do)
  - Time (when I do it)
  - Technique (how I do it)
  - Team (who I choose to do it with)

Who doesn't love a great mnemonic!  Mega-props Dan!

Got Mine Coming

I have my copy of Drive coming and I'm anxiously awaiting it so I can do a real review of his concepts.  I like where he's taking this.  

However, what I don't like is how others are taking his concepts for a ride.

Show Recap - Influence Insiders & Incentives

Both episodes are available below. The Influence Insider  panelists on twitter: @annbares @frankroche @heathermargolis @leapcomp @toddhanson @incentintel

Taking a cue from Santa - the manager of the world's largest incentive program - Influence Insiders took on the topic of incentives yesterday in our 2nd monthly blogtalkradio show.  We had a pretty full house and some interesting conversation.  

I won't recap everything but the key points I took away were:

• Even with the ongoing negative press incentives get in today's business environment the panel's experience is that employers and marketers are not cutting back on incentives.  They are however, (and I like this) taking more time to do them right.  The opinion from the group is that companies are working harder to make sure that incentives are tied to business issues, are designed in a way to reduce unintended consequences and are adjusting and monitoring their incentive spend. 
   
• @toddhanson mentioned that the negative press on "extravagant" incentives has moved clients to look at awards that don't come across as too extravagant and are looking at other options such as charity to avoid negative impressions.
   
• @frankroche highlighted that base salary has been frozen and that raises are harder to come buy.  This is causing an increase in the use of variable pay.  From his perspective, this is requiring a greater degree of communication to explain how/why the changes are occuring for employees.  In addition, many employees who are new to a variable pay environment didn't understand that variable means variable.  Extra communication and training were needed to help managers explain that previous payouts are not guaranteed and the company was serious when they said "variable."
   
• @heathermargolis discussed the use of "marketing funds" as an incentive option for channel partners (co-op money, help with advertising, etc.)  That brought up the question of what is the analog to marketing development funds in the employee world?
  
  Should employees earn training, more work, more challenge?  Can additional responsibility be a good incentive for top performers?
   
• @leapcomp (Juilien Dionne) mentioned that there is more focus on MBOs in incentive programs.  However, @heathermargolis warned that in some instances, people who are too focused on their own MBOs may be roadblocks to others trying to get THEIR MBOs accomplished.
   
• We touched on Alfie Kohn and Dan Pink and intrinsic vs. extrinsic awards and caller "Andy" brought up the fact that the research cited has been based on children and other school-aged participants and in his experience, not really believed by many business practitioners.

And we closed out the program talking about how incentive programs, no matter how well designed need to be managed.  

No program can be designed, launched and operated without someone at the controls.  

Too often managers believe the program is a proxy for their active participation and management.  The key is to pay attention, monitor and adjust.

Thanks to all who listened - and will listen.  All of us at Influence Insiders appreciate your participation.  Don't forget to "favorite" us on the blogtalk radio site and to tell your friends. 

If there is a topic you'd like us to hit on let us know in the comments below.

That's a wrap!

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