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)

Wanna Hear a Podcast on Incentives? Sure You Do...

Reading is so 2010.  Listening is all the rage now with kids.  You need to jump on board.

Over on TLNT.com today is a 26 minute podcast I did with Lance Haun (@theLance.)  We cover the incentive industry, why HR is more interested in rewards today - why engagement is key to success and how that has affected how incentives and rewards are positioned.  We hit on the "AIG Effect" - patriotism versus mercanaries - cash vs. non-cash - all the biggies.

Basically, it's a bar conversation without the bar (insert sad face here.)

Pop over - spend a few minutes and let us know what you think.

 

 

Related articles

• Should You Run an Incentive Program? Free Download. (i2i-align.com)
• I2I In The Press - FOT and USA Today (i2i-align.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!

Flipping the Funnel – Recognition Bottom Up? An IT Challenge

Employee recognition programs have come a long way. 

 “Management” has finally realized that engaged and thinking employees are a good thing and they’ve shuffled off the coil of the industrial revolution mindset.  If my google reader is any judge of the corporate zeitgeist, many companies are instituting strategic recognition and taking the time to invest in engagement initiatives.

But that shouldn’t stop us from asking more questions and testing new ideas.

One that I’ve been noodling the past few days is about the whole idea of “manager to employee” recognition.

From the Castle

In many programs there is a subset of recognition – typically driven by nominations – whereby “management” reviews submitted nominations and chooses a worthy recipient.  I like the idea of nominations.  What I’m wondering about is the selection process. 

When I see that process I think of royalty, surveying their domain and picking a worthy serf to hold up to the masses...

“See, I am magnanimous.  I am aware and connected to your strife and your lot in life.  I will show the world I am good and generous by bestowing this award upon you.  Now, take a knee and I’ll tap first your left, then your right shoulder with this crystal trophy somewhat resembling a flame or a claret jug (or both.)"

Here’s what I’m thinking now…

Studies show that managers are the real drivers of engagement.  Sure, you can have Congress-worthy benefits and haute cuisine in the company café, but if your manager is a dolt – no amount of “manager to employee” recognition is going to create engagement.  Bad bosses and bad management trump employee recognition and engagement initiatives every time.

Sooooo…

What if we started nominating “bosses” and had their performance reviewed.  What if the employees vetted the nominations?  Also, what if a portion (a sizeable portion) of a “managers” performance review was based on nominations from the “rank & file.”   And what if the impact of these nominations increased based on the manager’s level in the organization (meaning the CEO could have 90% of his compensation based on how well people in the org thought s/he was doing – the Sr. VP of Product Alignment would have 70% of s/he comp tied to it somehow – and so on.)

That would change a few things wouldn’t it.

But let’s just take away the comp discussion for a minute.

Why not just do the recognition program?  Why not?  Permission is much harder than forgiveness. 

The Challenge…

Hey – brilliant gal or guy in IT – set up a website untraceable to you – load up the managers in the org – allow for anonymous profiles (include some way of vetting that everyone really is an employee – I’m sure you could figure out a way) – and then allow those folks to start rating managers (kind of a “hot or not” thing maybe).  Let it loose on the organization.

At first it will probably be abused – but once a couple of managers see that they are getting good marks for transparency and authenticity it will start to carry some weight.  Once a few Sr. VPs get their comeuppances – some of the C-Level might take note.

Bottom line – everyone wins. 

Unless of course it becomes a real cluster – which would also indicate you’ve got a real culture and management issue anyway.

Before the haters jump in – I know the first thing you’ll hear...

"What makes employees think they know what good management is?  Why should they rate me?  I’ve been to school and I’ve got the annual training on diversity and sexual harassment.  I’m a ‘Manager’ with a capital ‘M.’”

Yeah… I get that. 

And if you really were a manager worthy of the title – you would think this is the greatest idea since my[_______].

Whaddaya think – is this great or what?

 

Related articles

• Gamification of Incentives and Recognition (i2i-align.com)

Gamification of Incentives and Recognition

I had a conversation with a reward and recognition professional the other day.  They asked me “what do you think of gamification in the recognition world?”  The implied addition to that sentence was, “versus the incentive world.”

My response... “Not good for recognition.  Good for incentive.”

He said – “y’know – that might make a good post.” 

Aaaaaannnnnnnd here we are.

What is Gamification

You’d have to be one of the actors in the GEICO commercials to not have heard about gamification.  Gamification is the new black.  Gamification will cure hiccups.  Gamification is the new “it” girl. 

And like any idea – it can be used for good – or evil.  Here’s a link to a pretty robust article on the gamification craze. 

From the post...

Gamification is:

The use of gameplay mechanics for non-game applications. The term also suggests the process of using game thinking to solve problems and engage audiences. 

And it is expected to be big...

A recent Gartner report from April of this year suggests as much. Analysts predict that by 2015, more than 50% of organizations will gamify their innovation processes.

“By 2014, a gamified service for consumer goods marketing and customer retention will become as important as Facebook, eBay or Amazon, and more than 70% of Global 2000 organizations will have at least one gamified application,” the Gartner report concludes.

Why Incentives And Not Recognition?

If you don’t really believe or understand the difference between incentive programs and recognition programs stop reading now.  The rest of this post will just confuse you and make you mad. 

Or check out some posts on this subject here, here, here, and here, then come back.

 

Incentives+Gamification = Good

Game mechanics – Points, Badgets, Levels, Leaderboards, and Challengaes – apply many of the influence techniques and social psychology things we talk about here on the site, consistency, commitment, scarcity, social proof.  They all play a role in influencing someone’s behavior and can turbo-charge an incentive program.

Now – time to split hairs – but it’s important. 

You can recognize achievements in an incentive program (that’s good) and levels and badges are those events.  They are recognition of specific achievements. 

But... they are not “recognition programs.”  They are recognition events within an incentive.  (Read that again -important concept time.)

 

RecognitionPrograms +Gamification = Bad

Recognition programs – ones that are driven from corporate culture and long-term business and personal values - do NOT lend themselves to overt gamification.

Here’s why...

First of all – they are already “gamified” – but in a more refined manner.

Think about it.  Recognition programs provide levels of achievement.  Recognition is already about assigning someone to a category whether that be “innovator” or “top sales” or “top service rep.”  Recognition programs rest on some of the elements of the gamification foundation.

But... and this is a big but (I cannot lie,) to add a level of “gamification” to an already “gamified” platform is like – well, adding peanut butter to a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.  It is just too much.  It changes the sandwich from something good and gooey to something just gooey.  Adding gamification on top of a high-level recognition program just makes it less good and more gooey.  

Gamification = manipulation. 

If you “gamify” a recognition program – start layering in things that take away from the core values you dilute the real intent.  The real intent of a strategic recognition program is to reinforce a culture – reinforce core beliefs and tenets.  Gamification, in the word itself, communicates that the system can be manipulated.

In addition, gamification is about short-term – it’s about the “next step” – not the big picture.

Strategic corporate recognition programs reward bigger issues than a simple behavior.  Recognition programs – the strategic kind – not the little employee of the month parking space kind – require a more dignified approach (IMHO).

Can you use gamification in an overall recognition strategy?

Sure. 

Will it communicate that you don’t take recognition seriously and you think it is a game to be played versus a business approach to be lived?  Yep. 

Will people be engaged?  Yes. 

Engaged in scamming the system to get the badges, levels, etc., not to be recognized for their connection to the mission and values of the company.

Gamification takes the focus off the outcome and places it squarely on the game.  Recognition should focus squarely on the outcome and take the focus off the game.

So... if your incentive supplier wants to add gaming elements to your incentive program say “Tell me more.”

If they want to add gamification to your strategic recognition program, well, as they say in “The Holy Grail” – RUN AWAAAAAAAY....

(Video below from "The Holy Grail" - some may say NSF, but I think it's okay.  Email and RSS subscribers may need to visit the post on the website here.)

 

 

 

Related articles

• Maritz Says Game Dynamics Will Revolutionize Employee Recognition (prweb.com)
• Combining Recognition Awards & Games in the Workplace (awardemployees.com)
• Major Difference between Incentives or Recognition Programs (awardemployees.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.

 

Killing 2 Engagement Birds With 1 Stone at Sonar6

Today I received the following email from Sonar6 (See image below.)  Their tag line... "performance reviews that don't suck."  Gotta love it.

Full disclosure - I met the principals a couple years back and had dinner with them and fellow FOT'ers @Kris_Dunn and @jessica_lee ... the Sonar6 team were great guys with a great approach to HR software.  I am a non-attorney spokesperson and no compensation was provided.

The Email

Here's an image of the email I received... (click image to go to the video.)

Why I like this...

First...

Like they say in the email - creating the video was a great team-building activity.  I'm sure they had discussions around what was important, what should be included, how to present that information.  If you think about it - that's a great way to garner alignment and agreement on your business proposition.  At the end of the day - their 3-minute video was what every employee should know and believe about their company.  What a great way to ensure alignment.  Wouldn't it be cool if they did a series of these vignettes - each around a different value they bring to the table - create a library of who they are and what they bring to their clients - great engagement... great training asset.

Second...

This is also a customer engagement tool.  They are sending out to their customer base a real picture of who they are and what they do.  Real faces, real voices, real stuff.  Not edited and committee-written emails, brochures, website links, etc.  This is who they are. (okay - some editing - would have been better with an outtakes trailer... )

One Email - Two Results

In my mind this is a great way to kill two engagement objectives with one stone.  Engaging employees with the company mission, values, proposition - and the customer with a real connection to the people who they may just end up working with.  What a great way to pull people into your "tribe."

One more thing...

Could they have assigned different teams with the same task and done some sort of incentive with awards for best video?  

Possibly - but I think the idea of doing the video and knowing it would be used to help the company is reward and recognition enough.  This IS one of the places where incentives may keep employee teams from being authentic and real - forcing them to worry more about technique and style - ultimately, defeating the purpose of the exercise.

Check it out... and ask yourself - what's your video?

 

Incentive Cheat Sheets

As I was putting together thoughts on a post for today it struck me that I've probably put out everything I know about incentives, rewards recognition over the past 6 years.  But with the way we consume information these days - in real time versus consulting a static document or book - some of the old stuff, even though it may be out of sight and out of mind - is still valid.  

So - reaching into the wayback machine I found a few "cheat sheets" on program rules and when to apply different program types depending on your objectives and created a new page on the site called "Reference Documents" - you can link to it from the sidebar.

On that page you will find three documents... 

First... 

Designing programs is hard and full of unintended consequences.  You can help reduce the risk of that with the rules overview download.  In the document we list out the various program types (hit and win, objective based, etc.) and show you the pros and cons of each kind of program.  Not all-inclusive but good enough to help you decide which kind of program structue might work for your goal/audience.

Second...

Ever ask yourself - "how can I _____?" (insert your goal in the blank space.)  

If so, then check out the two documents we included where we list some broad business challenges, the audiences that can affect those challenges and some general suggestions on the type of influence/reward program that could be considered to drive those results. 

We hope you find it useful.

 

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)

Recognition As Social Lubricant – Connecting Silos in Your Company

Recognition is the new black.

I say that for a few reasons.

1. Survey after survey after survey show that employees want and desire recognition (I’d say validation but why pick nits) – and most companies are doing a poor job at it
2. Recognition is THE thing that affects retention, engagement and motivation (again – being lazy and not linking out – just google it – the data is there)
3. When facebook does it, it must be true.  I used to say, “if it’s on google it must be true – but I think facebook has become the new bellweather for truthiness – and they are instituting feature after feature that allow individuals to like, connect and recognize what others on facebook are doing.
4. When Ze Frank creates a social service called Star.me then recognition has either arrived or jumped the shark (sort of a Schrödinger’s Cat paradox me thinks.)

Star.Me

Star.me is a new startup by Ze Frank – an internet celebrity from a few years back (some would say still but for me not so much.)  He climbed the internet celebrity ladder with his blog “The Show with Ze Frank” – which I used to connect to regularly.  He is a “performance artist.”  He has no training or experience in the recognition and reward space and yet he is leading a new start up called Star.me – which is all about recognition.  Go figure.

Star.me is a new social network driven by the giving and receiving of “stars.”  Prompted by the stars he remembers teachers giving out in his childhood Ze Frank believe we all need more stars.  And his new startup is a way to give and get them.  Star.me is in private beta (I don’t have credentials yet – and is built as a social network leveraging just about all the “gamification” (jeez to I hate that term) elements available to keep you engaged with the site.

The site isn’t for companies – it’s designed for the general public.  Below is a video embed from Techcrunch where Ze Frank talks about his new start up.  (Email and RSS subscribers may have to click through to the post to see video.)

More comments after the video.

My first impression of the interview, other than the hair fail, is that Ze Frank had no clue why recognition is good – just that it is, that it is needed and he wanted to find a way to monetize it and collect some Benjamin’s.  He was pretty vague about the value of recognition and why people want stars other than some memory of getting them in school. 

But...buried in the interview was this key (and I think hugely important comment)

“Recognition lubricates social interaction.”

Silos and Crossing Them

Silos are ubiquitous in most companies.  Silos are also kryptonite to innovation and collaboration.  When companies have big, established silos, most employees won’t reach out and connect across silos for fear of reprisals and retribution.  Unfortunately, crossing silos is like crossing the streams in Ghostbusters - you don't do it.

But recognition may be the one thing that makes crossing silos acceptable.

Like Ze Frank said – recognition is the lubricant for social interaction.  Making sure your employees have ways and methods of connecting and recognizing each other within and between organizational silos lubricates the interactions that must happen in order for innovation, engagement, and collaboration to occur.  It is very difficult to refuse a meeting or a conversation with someone who just recognized your work or highlighted how great you are in the company program or on the company intranet.  You can’t refuse a meeting if the person requesting it just gave you a big thumbs up in the Peer-2-Peer recognition program. 

Cross the streams – provide the lubricant needed for social interaction in your company and watch as silos melt away – and overall company performance increases.