Incentive Intelligence

This Just In: Oxygen Good for You and Recognition Is Good for Employees

That’s right – oxygen is good for you.  In fact if you don’t have it you die.  Oxygen is critical for:

• Breathing
• Living
• Cleaning tough stains out of your laundry (ask Billy Mays)

Now that you know about oxygen – go breathe some and feel better.  And then repeat.

Stay tuned – ‘cuz next week I’m gonna say the same thing but in reverse order.

Recognition and Rewards Drive Engagement

Yup, got it.  Oh, you want to tell me again about it? Sure go ahead.  Oh, a webinar about it from a different company?  Sure go ahead.  Oh, wait, a white paper about recognition creating 29.2 million jobs in the fourth quarter and fixing the global warming problem?  Thanks.  Oh, and yes you can have my email address so you can send me a link to another white paper telling me that recognition is a good thing for all employees ( not just good ones.)

 Aaaaannnnnnd... more and more posts, articles, tweets, webinars, updates, LinkedIn group updates - all about how recognition is good and can create an ROI measurable to the 2,345,693,303 digit of PI.

Is this NEW information? 

Isn’t recognition covered SOMEWHERE in the SPHR exam?  Didn’t the first 3,451 press releases about a new recognition update make it to your inbox?  How is it possible that we are STILL having this discussion?

Recognition works.  It needs to be sincere.  It needs to be timely.  It needs to connect to mission/values/goals. 

Got it?  Great, next on the agenda – brain surgery.

I cannot believe there is a demand for the same white paper topic, blog post topic, webinar topic week after week, month after month, year after year.

Someone help me understand.

I learned about addition and subtraction early on in my life – I’m pretty sure I don’t need to go to a webinar every month to hear about it again.  I got the concept. 

So where is this demand coming from? 

It’s a question, a rant, an observation.

Here’s what I want to see…

Webinars that talk about WHY we don’t teach managers how to do recognition correctly.  We wouldn’t put up with CPAs that can’t do a T-Account and couldn’t find their debit with both hands would we?  Why do we put up with managers who won’t/can’t do recognition?

Where’s the webinar on how to fire someone who won’t recognize correctly?  Or at all?  That’s a skill we need to implement more often.

Fer chissesakes – recognition is a mission critical skill today.  Get on it.

(Drop microphone and exit stage right.)

 

Related articles

• Gamification of Incentives and Recognition (i2i-align.com)
• Recognition or Incentive? Carrot or Crystal? It's Not Really A Choice (i2i-align.com)
• Major Difference between Incentives or Recognition Programs (awardemployees.com)

Incentive Compendium 9-1-2011

What's been happening in the incentive and reward space you ask?

Well, let's see...

• I, of course have posted a few times over the past weeks.
• There are now officially 50 "Most Engaged Workplaces" - (transparency - I was a judge.)
• There are 21 Endangered Employee Benefits
• The Enterprise Engagement Alliance has some news - (transparency - I do some social media stuff for them.)
• They (researchers) found that hating your job may run in the family (let's see an incentive program handle that.)

But why not just click over to our "Compendium" and read them yourself?

The compendium is a collection of the things we've seen in and around the web that we found interesting and noteworthy in the incentive world and we think you might like it too.  You don't need to do the work - we're already doing it so just piggy-back on our stuff.  We don't mind.  Really, we don't.

See ya soon with another compendium...

BTW - can you believe it is September already!  Wow.

Compendium Sources

FYI - we are always looking for new sources of information so feel free to let me know if you have blog or a site that you think we would find interesting.  If so - we'll subscribe and see if there is stuff that should be included in the next go-round.

Be warned - if your feed is set up to only push out a teaser paragraph or an excerpt it gets bounced.  We won't spend the time to click out and give you link juice when you could be thinking about your readers and provide the full feed.  And FYI - most people who subscribe in a reader feel the same way.  Open up the feed kids - information wants to be free!

The Incentive Compendium - The Next Round

A couple weeks ago I posted a link to our "compendium" of articles from the incentive, engagement, recognition and reward world.  My initial thought was to create one each week.  But that was too much work - and I'm all about reducing the "too much" part of work.

So, I've just added on to the last compedium.  Over time it will grow and grow... kinda like that stuff in the back of your refrigerator.  

This go-round we have about a dozen new posts - listed before the ones I put in last time.  This way - if you're new to the compendium - you can review the history.  If you've seen it before you can just view the newest batch.

This time I've got stories culled from the interwebs by:  The Social WorkSpace, Incentive Magazine, Bret Simmons, Compensation Cafe, Baudville, TLNT and a few more.  All good stuff.

Jump out to the site - check out the various topics and feel free to come back here and suggest other I should be watching.

Have a great Thursday!

 

Related articles

• Just Because I'm a Giver... The Incentive & Reward Compendium (i2i-align.com)
• This Weeks Incentive Industry Compendium (i2i-align.com)

Asking People to Perform May Increase Performance. Who Knew?

Incentive programs provide rewards for hitting specific goals.  Typically, the incentive program will announce the requirements and as you perform and hit the specified hurdles, you earn awards – points, credits, what have you.

Your points are good for merchandise, gift cards, travel, you name it. 

All good in the hood right?

Maybe not.

Maybe you could enhance performance by simply asking a question before you start the program.

Prediction = Increased Prediction

A recent post on the FutureLab site talks about research into consumer activity and to quote the post:

"Research shows that if you want to get people to do something, you should ask them to predict if they will do it. An affirmative answer greatly increases the probability that they will follow through."

The research highlighted in this article goes on to say...

1. Ask customers about their intent to buy your brand or product. Even this small step (mere measurement) will have a positive effect.
2. Get an affirmative answer. Plenty of studies show that if a person states a positive intention, they are more likely to act on it.
3. If possible, get a public or tangible commitment. This may not always be possible or even appropriate, but if it happens it will further increase the probability of future action.

While this post is all about consumer behaviors – getting people to “buy” – why wouldn’t the same hold true for incentive and performance programs?

Commitment and Consistency

We’ve talked about these social psychology triggers before.  People like to remain consistent with their past behaviors and commitments.  Prediction is a form of commitment.

So...couldn’t you increase the chances of your audience following through on program goals if you hit them with a double whammy – asking them if they will participate and hit goals – and reward them when they do?

It’s not really a new idea...

In the days before electrons we used to send out a commitment card to the participants asking them to commit to the program and complete a wish list of items they might want to redeem for out of the award catalog.  We’d also offer bonus points for completing the card.

Little did we know we were ahead of the curve. 

So... Now go back to the three points highligted above...Take out the words “buy your brand or product” and replace it with “participate in the program and earn and redeem points for awards.”

This doesn't have to be only for incentive and reward programs.  Any performance issue you want to focus on can take advantage of our human desire to be consistent.

Before telling an employee what to do - ask them if they think they CAN do it.  Ask them if they think they WILL do it.  Ask them to predict outcomes.  These questions can increase the odds it will happen.

Ask and ye shall receive. 

 

Related articles

• Sometimes the Incentive Industry Surprises Me (i2i-align.com)

Just Because I'm a Giver... The Incentive & Reward Compendium

A somewhat new service is available in beta called "Scoop.it." 

Scoop.it allows you to create a "newspaper" of sorts from things you find interesting on the web.  I'm experimenting with the service and of course I thought of you, gentle reader.

I asked myself - "what would help my readers in their day-to-day life and business."  And I answered - "a grouping of articles that someone else took the time to read and evaluate so that they can see what's hot and what's not in the incentive industry with little or no effort on their part."

That, is what Scoop.it facilitates.  And that is what I'm offering to you.  So, for the first (and possibly the last - but probably not) time I give you the...

The I2I Incentive and Reward Compendium

I subscribe to over 350 different blogs, sites, what-have-yous on a variety of subjects from science and pyschology to how to build steam-punk watches.  In addition, I monitor my twitter stream where I'm following 2,000+ people.  I also get a lot via email.  I have a lot of info coming in.  

It's from all those input streams that I find ideas for posts on this blog, posts on the FistfulofTalent blog and posts for clients and friends.  It's how I keep up with the industry and business in general.  

And now you can have a subset of that firehouse, vetted and consolidated for your reading pleasure.  

It's simply called the I2I Incentive and Reward Industry Compendium.

Want to Be Included?

Many of the feeds I get are from incentive and reward companies.  Some of their blogs have some interesting stuff you should be aware of.  In fact - if you want to be sure you're at least included in the first pass shoot me a note and let me know where your site is and I'll take a look and add it to my reader list.

CAVEAT:  If you have your feed set up to only show a "summary" or an excerpt so that I have to click through to the site - forget it.  Don't bother sending me the site info.  Feeds that only show a summary are simply padding their web page stats trading clicks for readers.  I don't click through.  I ignore the content ... period.  No exceptions.  A feed reader is for me to get info WITHOUT clicking out to your site.  So don't suggest your site if it only offers a summary feed.  (btw - none of your readers appeciate it either - it's a pain in the ass and it shows that the site is about you not them - they will remember that.  Just sayin'.)

Hope you find it interesting and helpful.  Let me know what you think in the comments.  Continue or cut?  Your call.

 

Recognition or Incentive? Carrot or Crystal? It’s Not Really A Choice

More and more I’m seeing posts with headlines like: “Ditch the Carrot – Use Recognition Instead” or “Employees Don’t Want Carrots.”

I’m here to tell you it isn’t true.

Yes, employees want more recognition. 

Yes, recognition is a key component in your employee engagement strategy.

Yes, recognition has been ignored in the past.

Yes, the most recent generation of employees are more attuned to recognition based on their “everyone gets a trophy” upbringing.

But don’t listen to all those recognition gurus and trophy salespeople tell you to eliminate your incentive programs.

If I told you that you should abandon email in favor of Facebook would you?  They are both communications platforms.  They both allow you to connect and communicate with various people over the internet.  You wouldn’t do it would you? 

You know they serve very distinct purposes.  So too, do recognition and incentives.

It’s Not About Either/Or – It’s About How Much of Each

The purpose of recognition AND incentives is to influence behavior in your organization so that your employees achieve their individual goals and you help your company hit its organizational targets.

I would never recommend you eliminate incentives any more than I’d tell you to eliminate recognition.  Anyone who tells you to is doing you a disservice.

If you’re getting the hard sell to eliminate your incentive activity in favor of a “recognition” strategy you’re being sold – not counseled.  You’re being manipulated not helped.

The right thing to do is create a mix of recognition, incentive, communication and training tailored to your organizational needs. 

Blindly following a company riding the crest of one best seller advocating elimination of incentives (with bad rationale I might add...) is lemming behavior and further proof that just ‘cuz everyone is doing it doesn’t make it right.

 

 

Related articles

• Standing Next to Einstein Doesn't Make You an Astrophysicist (i2i-align.com)
• Incentives And Wellness - Always A Conundrum - Tweet Chat #co_health (i2i-align.com)

Sharks and Company Culture - Weird But True

I haven't done this in while but this post is really about directing you to another post.  We have a post up on Fistful of Talent today on company culture.  Called "Like Water for Culture" it's about how important culture is when considering who to hire.

I know - there are many of you who hear the words company culture and you throw up in your mouth a little.  I get it - you don't like to talk about the soft and squishy stuff.  Culture Smulture you say... it's not about culture it's about hitting the time clock and collecting the Benjamins.  Unfortunately, as rational as that seems it is totally 100% false.

Culture is the environment in which we spend about 40% of our time in order to get the Benjamins.  Culture is the air we breathe while we do the rational stuff that pays the mortgage and get's us that big 65" LED flat screen with 3D technology and built in neck massager and popcorn maker.

While we can't always put our finger on culture it permeates our work life - and when you think about it - our personal life as well.

You can get paid a ton to do what you're good at but if the environment you work in is toxic and it doesn't match up to your values - and your boss is always kicking you around the office - you will come home and kick the cat or the dog or tease the fish.  Your working life affects your personal life.  #FACT.

As every host on Family Feud has said more than once - "And the survey says" - work meaning, recognition and feeling connected at work are the key drivers satisfaction and engagement.  Collecting Benjamins is always (I'll emphasize) ALWAYS further down the list of what people really want at work. 

And when the academics do their studies to find out what really impacts performance - money and other "transactional" benefits of the task always fare worse than the squishy stuff like recognition and validation - and - culture.

So, pop over to Fistful of Talent - read the post and tell me if you think culture is important or not.

 

Related articles

• HR Anarchy - Our Post on Fistful of Talent (i2i-align.com)

Where Do You Fit on the Engagement Adoption Curve?

In 1962 Everett Rogers came out with a book called Diffusion of Innovations.  In that book he outlined the process he thought governed how new ideas are adopted by a population – specifically consumers.  He also categorized people based on their “adoption” timing.  Geoffrey Moore built on this concept and applied it to businesses in his books Crossing the Chasm and Dealing with Darwin (and others - highly recommend them all!) 

Rogers outlined five different adoption categories as follows: 

Innovators	Innovators are the first individuals to adopt an innovation,  take risks, are the youngest, have the highest social class, are very social, have closest contact to scientific sources and interaction with other innovators.
Early Adopters	This is the second fastest category of individuals who adopt an innovation and they have the ighest degree of opinion leadership among the other adopter categories, typically younger in age, have advanced education, and are more socially forward than late adopters. They also are more picky with their choice of adoption than the early adopters.
Early Majority	Individuals in this category adopt an innovation after a varying degree of time. This time of adoption is significantly longer than the innovators and early adopters.  They are waiting to see what the early adopters are doing.
Late Majority	Individuals in this category will adopt an innovation after the average member of the society. These individuals approach an innovation with a high degree of skepticism and after the majority of society has adopted the innovation.
Laggards	The last to adopt an innovation, show little to no opinion leadership, have an aversion to change-agent. Laggards typically tend to be focused on “tradition.”

For whatever reason, this idea popped into my head the other day and I started thinking about reward and recognition strategies and how we engage our employees (and channel partners for that matter.)  I realized that companies also fall into an “adoption” curve when it comes to engaging and rewarding/recognizing their employees.  Unfortunately, it’s a skewed curve – and that can be a problem not only for the employee – but for the company as well.

Technology Adoption Curve

The curve Rogers designed included what he thought was the percentage of the population that fell into each category.  He used a “normal distribution and the curve looks like this:

I looked at that curve and asked myself – what strategies and techniques currently being used by companies to engage and drive employee performance would fall into each of the categories?  In other words - which of the techniques being applied are innovative and which are old and tired.  The chart below shows what I quickly came up with (feel free to argue/add to this list in the comments.)

But when I looked at the curve it just didn’t look right.  When I think about the companies I talk to and the conversations I have with industry folks - companies are not following a normal distribution when it comes to adoption of engagement ideas. 

In fact, based on my decidedly unscientific take on the industry, I would suggest that the curve for adoption skews heavily into the late stage adoption groups like the curve below.  The red boxes show the percentage of companies I believe are in each of the categories.  Again – argue/comment below – love to get your feedback.

Why?

Now the big question – why do you think the curve skews so far to late adoption?  My take:

Too much to lose if they are wrong. 

In consumer worlds, trying a bad idea rarely breaks the bank, but in the business world a company that invests a lot in untried and new ideas runs the risk of going out of business.  Espeically in the HR world where either you can’t (or won’t) do some sort of pilot testing to see if the new idea has merit.

No Focus on Employees

Part of me thinks that too many companies just don’t get the idea that people are the new competitive advantage.  They still think great marketing, great products, opaque pricing and asymmetric information is the path to success.  Unfortunately, they forget there is no great product, great marketing, great conversations without people.  And technology has eliminated the whole asymmetric info thing... just google it.

They Aren’t Desperate Yet

Desperation makes people do amazing, scary, unbelievable things (can you say 127 Days?.)  While I don’t think any of the ideas that are “new” are scary – they are amazing – but many companies won’t change ANYTHING until they absolutely have too... and then it will be too late IMHO.

Find Yourself on the Curve

Check out the curve – check out the definitions.  Are you a laggard, early adopter, or a late majority?  Then go ask someone else.  They will tell you the truth. 

Remember – 90% of the people surveyed think they are above average – so does your company – so do you.  But I’m suggesting being average is being behind. 

Look at the left side of the graph – those are the things you should be talking about – not whether you should give Mary Employee of the Month because she hit the time-clock 19 out of 20 days on time.

Comments, ideas, thoughts? 

 

Incentives And Wellness - Always A Conundrum - Tweet Chat #co_health

Last week (March 21st to be exact) I participated in a tweet chat on how incentives can impact wellness programs/initiatives instituted by companies.  Sponsored, managed, held, whatever by #co_health (@femelmed and @chimoose) the tweet chat lasted an hour and was fast and furious.  

@chimoose does a great job of summarizing the chat here on his site "Chimoose Talks Nonsense."  I urge you to go on over and check it out.  If you've ever wanted to know what we think of wellness incentives - that's the place to go.

What You Won't See on the Chat Stream

What wasn't covered in the chat - and probably the most important thing a wellness incentive/recognition initiative should have is... wait for it... INTEGRITY.

What I mean by that is any wellness initiative - whether supported by incentives and recognition or not - needs to spring from the company's (meaning the people in charge) desire to have healthy employees.  The initiative should be about helping and caring for the employees.  If the program/initiative is simply a way to reduce costs (which they do...) don't do it.

Employees are very sensitive BS meters.  They know when something smells wrong.  Running an incentive for wellness just to reduce costs communicates to your employees that you'd run and incentive get people to be unhealthy if that drove your bottom line.  Your wellness initiative MUST come from caring about your employees more than it does from caring about your costs.  

Don't try to cover up a financial program with a wellness initiative.  You'll lose trust and you'll have a difficult if not impossible time winning that trust back.  And that trust will be lost in all areas of your business - not just wellness.

Do the right thing for the right reasons.  Do wellness because you care.

Here's a quick tip to know if you're doing it wrong - if your CFO is the one pushing the program - you're doing it wrong.  

At the end of the day wellness programs are about taking care of people - not taking care of profits.

Check out the recap on Chimoose's site and visit the sponsors’ sites and follow them on the twitters for more information - they are lovely people!

free-range communications - @Fran Melmed

Chimoose Talks Nonsense - @chimoose (aka Greg Matthews)

 

 

Related articles

• Designing Incentive And Rewards Programs - What's the Frequency Kenneth? (i2i-align.com)
• Sometimes a $25 Incentive is Worth More Than $25 (i2i-align.com)
• Rules for Good Incentive Programs (i2i-align.com)
• Webinar - Incentive Design and Wellness April 19 Noon EDT (i2i-align.com)

The 3 Year Itch – Accelerating Disengagement

A few weeks back I saw an article about a British study that focused on when relationships start to hit speed bumps.  More precisely – the decreasing lag between “I can’t live without you” and “Pick up that damn underwear and put it in the hamper.”  

The first line from the article:  

“The "three-year glitch" has replaced the "seven-year itch" as the tipping point where couples start to take each other for granted, according to a new survey.”

For someone who will celebrate their 25th wedding anniversary this year (really?  25?  I musta got married when I was 6...) I can understand the concept of the 7-year itch – and the 3-year glitch and the 20-year – (I found a rhyme for glitch but I'm smart enough to not type it...)

Suffice it to say – I get the gist of the article.

Everything is Faster - Including Disengagement

I’m guessing that 500 years ago it was the 10 year itch – and then at the turn of the century it was the 7-year itch and now we’re down to 3.  Everything today is faster.  Microwave coffee and download on demand TV – we are not good at waiting anymore.  I think this survey shows that our impatience is becoming part of our personal relationships – and I think it is also a factor in our professional lives as well.  

We’ve all heard about this “younger” generation being impatient but it’s not just a Millennial thing - late Boomers have had an average of 11 employers - a job change every 2.4 years. (US Bureau of Labor Statistics)

We are becoming impatient faster with almost everything in our lives.  Including work.

Personal/Professional – TomAto/TomAHto

The survey outlined some interesting things about the changes that occur in a relationship – and I think you can convert these things into employee engagement ideas as well – and keep that “spark” in your employee/employer bond...

 

Survey Comments	I2I Comments
Those in the first flush of love can look forward to an average of three compliments a week from their partners	How often do we compliment new hires on their work?  More often, I’m guessing, than we do the veterans.
At the three-year mark most average only a single weekly compliment	Other than the annual performance review and maybe a “service anniversary” award – what are you saying to those that have earned their stripes and now perform in their jobs.
30% of five-year relationships said that they never receive any compliments from their partners.	Maybe we should invert the pyramid of recognition and increase the number of times we thank folks for being part of the company and contributing (not just presence – but performance.)
76 % felt that "individual space was important" within a relationship and pointed to a rise of individual activities	Do you give your employees the opportunity to do work they find valuable and desireable?  Do you let them have some time to pursue personal goals as part of their employment contract?  Maybe you should.
34% of those who have been seeing their partners for longer than three years have at least two evenings a month defined as a "pass" or a "ticket" where it is accepted that they can pursue their own interests	See above.  Allowing personal pursuits during working hours can be a huge reward for loyal AND productive employees.  And really, at the end of the day what was the cost? You can pay them now in free time – or pay them later when they stop working as hard and waste an hour a day for 10 years – that’s the real cost to you – not the one or two days a month they get to work on a special interest.
58% of the same sample group enjoys regular holidays without their partners	Should we let employees work full-time somewhere else for a little bit – maybe at a charity – while still paying them?  Just thinking outloud.

 

What do you think?  Good comparison?  

I hope you are paying attention to the things that annoy your partner in your personal life.  You don’t want to come down with the 3-year glitch.

And for all of us managers out there – It might be a good idea to start paying attention to the same things in our professional lives and increase the honeymoon period from 1 year to 25.  Just sayin’.

 

Related articles

• Why Engagement Matters for Managers (enterpriseengagement.org)