I2I - Incentive Intelligence

The Oldest Motivational Disease – “Awardmyopia Itswhatwesellitis”

Look at me.  Now look at your reward and recognition program.  Now back to me.  Now look back to your reward and recognition program.  Now back to me.  Sadly, your program isn’t what it could be.  Do you want a program that really works?  

Here’s how you can get the program you want – stop buying awards.

A Virus Hiding in Good Intentions

We have an epidemic in the motivation and reward industry and unfortunately it doesn’t infect those that spread the disease.  It only affects you - those that come in contact with it.  The disease is caused by companies who have a product to sell and will go to great lengths to create “bullet-proof” arguments that present their offering as the “best” award option.  It’s the best because that’s what they sell.

That disease is “awardmyopia itswhatwesellitis.”

That’s right.  You are the unwitting recipient of a deadly, often fatal and hard to eradicate disease rampant in those that seek to engage and influence behavior through the use of awards.  The disease ultimately tries to convince you that there is ONE award option that will cure your organizational ills.  The disease narrows your vision to a pinpoint of light focused on the award offering a specific vendor provides.

Symptoms and Progress of the Disease

It starts simply enough with your search on google for motivation or incentives.  It then progresses to research at various provider websites talking about rewards – gift cards, merchandise, travel, logo-identified mugs.  At these sites the disease attempts to soften the left side of your brain (logic and rational thinking) through sketchy research and sponsored studies proving the disease is beneficial – like bacteria in yogurt.  Once you’ve succumbed to the sites it then manifests with a meeting and a capabilities presentation that highlights services and previous infectees who are happy with their strain of the disease.  

At this point you are unaware that you now have the disease – but it is working feverously inside your brain.  The next step in the infection is where the real problems occur.  Because all the carriers of the disease have similar structures your brain looks to focus on the one place they differ – the award option. 

With the disease’s prodding - you begin reviewing and evaluating the award options each strain presents.  Your infected brain, now spends hours and hours in MSExcel comparing award pricing – working hard to find that pricing sweet spot that will be most receptive to the next infectee – your manager.  You now become the unwitting carrier of the disease, infecting your manager and they in turn infect their manager, until most if not all the staff believe that to solve the initial problem the best priced award option is the appropriate choice.

Unfortunately, this disease is crafty.  It dulls the critical thinking part of the brain – hiding the real truth and the real question…

“Do you need awards at all?”

The disease plays upon the fact that you started the discussion.  You’re the one that wanted an incentive and reward program.  You’re the one that wanted to look at awards.  

The disease just gave you what you asked for.  It was being helpful.  It was doing YOUR bidding.  

But in reality you wanted a program that drives behavior change.  You really wanted a program that gets employees to feel good about working at your company.  You just wanted a program that drives your channel to buy more and recommend you more often.  You wanted a program that gets results.  You wanted a program that works best for your company and your audience.

Unfortunately, what you end up getting is recommendations for specific award options that are best for the provider of that specific award option.

The disease changes the conversation from “how do I influence behavior to achieve ‘x’", to "who’s award is best?”

A Cure Is Out There…

I’m wearing a ribbon on my lapel shaped like a trophy to bring attention to this disease.  There is a cure but you need to do your part.  You need to step away from the awards.  You need to look at me – then look at your awards and then back to me.  

LISTEN carefully – YOU DON’T NEED TO LOOK AT AWARDS UNTIL AFTER YOU’VE DEFINED THE REAL PROBLEM.

All strains of the disease from gift cards to merchandise to cash – are effective in the right measure.  All these award options can influence behavior.  There is NO ONE RIGHT AWARD.  Read that again.

Prevention

Take time to inoculate yourself from this epidemic.  It’s simple but hard.  

Just ask…

• Is the problem an issue of motivation and engagement – or is it something else?
   
• What does my audience say is the reason objectives aren’t being met?
   
• How would I solve this problem if there was no such thing as incentive programs?
   
• Where did I put that number to I2I so I can get some unbiased advice on how to influence behavior?
   

Seriously though – don’t assume the award is the answer.  Don’t let the carriers of “awardmyopia itswhatwesellitis” craft your decision criteria.  

Be thoughtful.  

Be aware.  

Be careful.

Updates and Changes – New Date for Blogtalkradio Episode and New HR Examiner Article

Believe it or not I have a personal life and sometimes it actually takes precedence over my work here on the interwebs and with clients.  Today is one of those days.

I’ll be on the road traveling and won’t be able to be in front of a microphone for the scheduled blogtalkradio show “Influence Insider” with guest Sean Geehan, CEO/President/Founder of Geehan Group and soon to be published author.  The show has been rescheduled for September 15, 2010 at Noon EDT – I hope you can adjust your calendars and tune in.  Sean will be addressing what I think – as does he – the much overlooked ways we influence B2B channels.  I was really looking forward to the conversation but we’ll have to just give it a couple of weeks.

In the meantime…

But don’t fret – there is something for you to do today at noon.  You can jump over to the HR Examiner website and read my recent contribution – “Maintaining Human Machines.”

A taste of the article…

The industrial revolution elevated the machine over the “man.” The process, and the machines that chugged away within it, created the value for the company. People were extensions to the machine – the tail to the dog.

Value = People

But that changed about 20 years ago. Humans are now the nexus of value at almost every company. But most companies still manage their business and their people like Henry Ford did over 100 years ago.

That is the disconnect.

In the past HR was required to manage “human” resources in order to make the machines and the processes more cost effective.

The key today, and in the future, is to understand how to maintain and get the most out of humans in order to drive business results.

So – until I get back in front of the golden I2I microphone (or I find another bad incentive theory/practice to keep you from implementing) think about how you would approach human machines and ask - how you would write a maintenance manual for your people? 

Social Networking And Engagement

I was fortunate enough to be part of the Enterprise Engagement Alliance Networking event this past June.  It was the first meeting by the EEA and it went great!  I even had the opportunity to talk about how social media and social networks fit into an engagement strategy.  Let's be real clear here - I am not a social media guru.  I use social media and social network tools daily (heck my wife thinks I use them hourly but that's another discussion.)  My presentation covered the basics of why social media/networks will be a part of any engagement strategy and offered a couple of ways companies can use these tools to increase the conversation around their products, promotions, and programs.

I have a brief post up on their site today that recaps some of the "high" points of my section of a session on engagement with a link to the slides. Be forewarned... my slides make little sense without the talk track that goes with them - kinda a presentation zen thing...

Jump over and take a look.  Comments always welcome.

Full transparency:  I am the social media editor for the EEA and assist with twitter, blogs, linkedin and other ways to spread the EEA message through social networks.

Managers Are Key to Your Business Success

Over at Fistful Of Talent (arguably one of the most popular HR blogs) I posit the idea that Managers should have their own true “manager” certification program and have Managers re-certify regularly.

Unfortunately at most companies Managers don’t need to be certified nor is "management certification" something companies look for or expect.

What I've seen instead is that companies pick the functionally proficient employee and make them the manager.  The classic application of this principle is in sales where the top sales person is promoted to Sales Manager and fails miserably.  And you get a double whammy - not only does the company lose the sales from the top sales person – they also lose all the sales from all the other sales people due to the new Manager doing their job poorly.

Managers are critical to a company’s success.  And I mean Managers at all levels – not just those with BMWs and assigned parking spots.  Management isn't a function of being functionally literate in your area of work - it's about how you translate company goals and objectives into day-to-day work and how you grow people in an organization.

A long while back (January of 2007 – yeah, almost 4 years ago) I wrote this about Managers…

"What hit me is that middle managers act as the transmission in an organization.  They are tasked with bridging the gap between strategy (engine) and tactics (wheels.) 

I think that as our economy relies more on creativity, relationships, managing tacit knowledge and managing less measurable things, then the need for quality transmissions should be growing not shrinking and the value of  good middle managers should be increasing.  Even with a powerful engine a car can't go anywhere without the transmission.  Transmissions also sense the load on an engine and adapt accordingly.  Managers do the same - keeping people from burning out under increasing loads."

If in fact Managers are a critical component in your company’s drive train – shouldn't they be inspected, certified and repaired as needed to make sure they’re doing the job?  

What say you – should managers be held to the same level of certification as say – Accountants?  Or your HR personnel?  Hit me in the comments after reading both my old post and my new one at Fistful of Talent.