Event Spotlight

WEBINAR: CROWDSOURCED PERFORMANCE REVIEW Re-imagine the employee performance review (June 25, 1:00 ET/6:00 GMT) Register Now >>

Archive for the "reward choice" Category

LeadershipLivecast April 24th: Doing Still More with Less

2013 8 Apr

Recognize This! – We are all in a position of needing to do more with less. Learn from more than 40 industry experts on how to get high performance while avoiding burnout.

Are budgets still tight for you? Are you struggling to still do more with less?

In many ways, I think we all are. Organizations have settled into the patterns and expectations set after reductions and belt-tightening from the 2009 recession. We asked remaining employees (including ourselves) to do more, sometimes doing the work of two or three people, and we are still doing so today.

Leadership is quite happy with these productivity increases and likely sees them as sustainable over the long term. Those of us in HR closely tied to how employees are doing in terms of engagement know better.

If you’re in the position of trying to still do more with less, then I encourage you to join me and 40 other experts for a LeadershipLivecast from The Ken Blanchard Companies on Wednesday, 24th April, 12:00-2:30 Eastern (9:00-11:30 Pacific; 5:00-7:30 GMT). What’s this all about?

“Many of us in the workplace are stressed, overworked, and overextended. Yet our organizations seem to be asking still more of us. How do we learn to do more with less? And then still more with less again?

“Join us on April 24, 2013, as we explore ways to drive and maintain high performance without burnout. Learn from experienced managers, senior coaches, and leadership experts on how to avoid the deal-breaking moment when your top talent declares, “No more doing more with less.”

“Register Now to hear some of leaderships best known thought leaders share their insight on how they have managed to accomplish more with less. Featuring: Elliott Masie, Steve Roesler, Charlene Li, James Maas, Lee Cockerell, Fons Trompenaars and many more. Plus live commentary from Ken Blanchard and Scott Blanchard!”

I’ll be sharing specifically on how to do more with less recognition and rewards budget. I hope you can join the livecast.

Has the Merit Increase Run Its Course?

2013 7 Mar

Recognize This! – Merit increases no longer offer the differentiation they once did for true “pay for performance.” Perhaps it’s time to consider new approaches.

It’s that time of year! You can feel it in the air. The anticipation… the preparation… the dread.

No, not Spring. The annual performance review. Many companies target the March/April timeframe for conducting the reviews and handing out merit increases. Except, of course, for those who choose to disassociate the review from the pay increase in an effort to communicate to employees that the review itself has nothing to do with raises. (This is futile, by the way. Everyone knows their raise is dependent on the review in some fashion.)

Too many employees (and managers, for that matter) muddle through the performance review process simply to get to the merit increase possibility on the other side. But how relevant is that increase in today’s workforce? Merit increases remain stagnant at about 3 percent (not much better than cost of living), and companies continue to sit on record profits, choosing to maintain and increase margins rather than hire or increase wages.

Ann Bares, editor of Compensation Café and author of the Compensation Force blog, recently dug into this more, asking:

“There are rumblings underfoot among compensation and HR professionals concerning the once sacrosanct annual merit increase and whether the time may have come to (really) shake things up.

“Should we be moving away from the one-size-fits-all, same-for-(nearly)every-employee merit matrix to something more differentiated, more strategic?  Is it time to reconsider the ‘once each year’ timing and look at other, particularly longer, alternatives?  Should we finally get serious about shifting some portion of this annual increase in fixed base over to some sort of variable opportunity?”

Ann is running a brief survey on just this topic, and I’m very interested in the findings. Long-time readers know I am not an advocate of the annual cash bonus (as it quickly becomes an expected part of compensation), and merit increases no longer hold enough differentiation to matter (low performers get 2.3%, mid performers get 2.5-2.7%, high performers get 3.0). We might as well be honest and call these “merit” increases what they really are – cost of living increases – and turn to new ways appropriately recognize and reward those who go above and beyond. And we should do so in a frequent, timely and specific way, instead of reserving our praise and appreciation for the annual review or annual bonus.

What do you think about Ann’s questions? Has the merit increase run its course?

Compensation Café Round-Up: Bonuses, Cash Rewards, How We Work, Retention and More

2013 28 Feb

Recognize This: In this round-up of my last five posts, I examine challenges with incentives, bonus and cash awards when inappropriately applied as well as ideas for how working less can help us work more.

It’s a good many months since I’ve posted here a round-up of my posts on the Compensation Café blog. Since I posted there today, here is a quick summary of my 2013 Café posts. Click through on the titles to read the full posts.

Choosing the Right Currency for Compensation & Rewards (28th February 2013)

If you polled your employees and asked them, “What kind of rewards would you prefer?”, how do you think they’d respond? The vast majority of the time, the answer is: “Cash.” Of course we all want more cash. But what employees say they want for rewards, what actually works best to motivate employees, and what employees enjoy as rewards are entirely different things. In this post, I examine these issues in more depth.

Why Working Less Helps Us Work More (20th February 2013)

Looking at research and comments from Tony Schwartz, I examine the possibility that working less could actually help us work more. Don’t worry. I’m not advocating a 35-hour work week or two months as standard vacation policy. I am arguing for building renewal into the cultural rhythm of the organization. We need to consciously encourage our team members and colleagues to renew while at work. To, yes, work hard, but then take reasonable (and regular) breaks to renew, to catch up with friends and colleagues, and – through those casual conversations – to innovate.

Bonuses, Perks and Benefits – Finding What Works (and What Doesn’t) (8th February 2013)

In this post, I shared my take on several bonus and benefit programs that hit my newsfeed. I discuss the challenges and what you can do instead with perks programs that reward only a select few, mandatory sick leave and culture as the driver of all other rewards.

Why Employees Actually Leave (Hint: It’s Not Money) (29th January 2013)

I attended a webinar given by Leigh Branham, author of The Seven Hidden Reasons People Leave. In this post, I share the main points I learned in the webinar:

  • A significant gap exists between why managers think employees leave and why they really do.
  • Better pay alone or more perks cannot fix the problem of employees feeling undervalued and unrecognized.
  • Pay and benefits are growing as areas of concern in recent years.

I also share my lessons learned:

  1. Create survey instruments or methodologies that deliver more reliable information.
  2. Respond to the reality of today’s workforce, not the experiences of the past.
  3. Restore benefits and pay as quickly as possible.

More Unintended Consequences from Ill-Planned Incentives (8th January 2013)

What motivates us at work is ultimately a very personal and individual topic, though generalities do apply. That’s why I get a chuckle out of research study after research study showing we nearly always guess incorrectly what would motivate others. In this post, I share two explicit examples of this:

  1. Perfect Attendance Awards Incent the Wrong Behaviors
  2. Unintended Consequences of Incentives at the Olympics

When Chocolates and Wine Aren’t Appreciated as Rewards

2013 26 Feb

Recognize This! – If you’re going to invest in employee recognition and rewards, make sure your rewards measure up to your recognition.

My team of consultants and I regularly engage with clients to help them assess and analyze their employee recognition and reward programs. We do this on many fronts, from sheer uncovering of recognition activities happening in facilities around the world to budget investment to benchmarking and best practice recommendations.

We analyze everything from how recognition takes place, how deeply its embedded into the culture, who’s encouraged to participate as both nominators of others for recognition as well as potential recipients, and process elements including frequency, timeliness, presentation, etc.

A part of this, of course, is the reward mechanism used. In this blog I tend to emphasize the recognition part of the recognition and reward equation because getting recognition right is the foundation to proactive culture management, crowdsourced performance and so much more. But we cannot ignore the rewards. Rewards are more than the icing on the cake. They are the “trophy value” for employees – the long-lasting reminder of how much the company values and appreciates the employee and their contributions.

Don’t Neglect Rewards in Effective, Strategic Employee Recognition Programs

That’s why offering a wide range of rewards is critical. Employees must be able to choose from a vast selection of rewards that are personally meaningful and culturally relevant for them – especially in global organizations. Offering hundreds of rewards options to US-based employees and only a dozen options to China-based employees is lazy at best and insulting to the employee at worst.

More to the point is being sure the recipient of recognition is the one choosing their reward, not the giver (whether that be a peer or a manager). Case in point – just last week my team shared amongst ourselves some reward practices we’ve uncovered in these analysis projects. One in particular stuck out to me. Managers always selected the reward for the recipient, and they could only choose from two reward options – chocolates or wine.

What if the recipient is a diabetic teetotaler, or merely allergic to wine (or chocolate)? What if the person is on a diet? Now the well-intended reward is received as a useless slap in the face.

Let the Recipient Choose

While an extreme example, it highlights the importance of letting the recipient choose their own reward. I’ve shared before stories of why manager “goodie drawers” are a bad idea (giving a gift card to a steakhouse to a vegan employee; giving tickets to a local theatre production to an employee with kids for whom the securing and paying for childcare makes the night out not worth it; the iPod given to a deaf employee).

The bottom line: Let the employee choose their own reward from millions of options, in their own neighborhood or anywhere around the world.

What’s the most insulting “reward” or gift you’ve been given?

Premier Farnell Tells Their Story of Successful, Strategic Recognition

2013 4 Jan

Recognize This! – Incorporating the 10 Tenets of strategic recognition is critical for success.

Just before the holidays, our client Premier Farnell joined us for a webinar: “Making the Most of Recognition: Premier Farnell’s Recognition Journey.” Located in 35 countries with headquarters in London, critical to Premier Farnell’s recognition journey was multi-lingual, global expertise in recognition and rewards that are appropriate and meaningful for a global audience of employees.

Amy Montefinese, VP of global total rewards and HR operations for Premier Farnell, shared an excellent story of what the firm was able to accomplish through their iCAN recognition program. By happenstance, Amy directly spoke to several of the 10 tenets for a successful strategic employee recognition program (as explained in detail in Winning with a Culture of Recognition). Below are just a few with quotations from Amy and my comments on importance.. The entire webinar is also available here or via the video below:

The Tempo Starts at the Top

“Our CEO is a big champion of the program, which has really helped our recognition program be successful. He really gets it. He knows how important recognition can be, and in fact has been one of the top 5 nominators in the program since it launched… He set the tone and really made recognition a priority for the organization.”

By his or her actions, your CEO signals to all employees very clearly what matters most. Securing CEO sponsorship – visibly and consistently – is the top tenet for successful strategic recognition.

Base Recognition on Your Values and Objectives

“Currently, we are in a brand transition, which includes ‘Our Elements’ showing who we are and what we value as an organization. This is a very critical ingredient we use in our recognition program as we link these values to every recognition moment to help us embed them in the organization as we go through change.  So, for example, our award reasons of Passion, Simple Structures & Systems, Flawless Execution, Totally Reliable and Resourceful, come straight from Our Elements.”

Whether your organization is in transition or not, linking employee recognition to what matters most to your organization (your values and objectives) is the most powerful way to bring these ideas to life for all employees.

Involve Program Participants and Invite Their Input

“We had a cross functional global team on this. I brought together stakeholders from across the globe, from line managers as well. We had definite buy-in at launch. This was a very important contributor to our success. This helped with line sponsorship and the program not being viewed as an ‘HR thing’ because we had input from across the organization.”

A culture of recognition is owned by all employees, not just HR or the recognition program champion. To get to a true culture of recognition, it’s critical to involve people from across the organization in program design and implementation.

Call All Managers to Training/Promote It or Perish

“As a partner, Globoforce brought in their expertise and their knowledge of implementing programs. Communication and training was big and I didn’t have a huge team to help me. So we leveraged the Globoforce team to help us develop a presentation that we used for a series of global webexes. We also recorded an on-demand training session available through the intranet. This really was key to a successful roll-out and implementation.”

To reach program adoption goals quickly, you must not only communicate the program through various vehicles, but train employees on why this new approach to recognition is critical to company and individual success. Use the resources available to you, and don’t shirk this critical tenet.

Touch as Many People as Possible, as Often as Possible

“In the environment today where organizations are hamstrung by sluggish sales and the need for efficiency gains, employees really are motivated by recognition. Feedback from a manager for doing a great job really does go a long way… Every quarter our team produces an HR dashboard and recognition metrics are highlighted. Employee reach is a big one – what percentage of employees in which groups were recognized. Our target this year is 80%. At the end of Q3 several divisions have already reached their goal and the rest are on track.”

Not only do you need a goal of 80-90% program participation, you need an easy yet detailed mechanism for measurement and metrics accumulation and reporting.

I encourage you to watch the full webinar, then come back and tell me what lessons you can apply in your own organization.

How to Recognize Employees during the Holidays

2012 15 Nov

Recognize This! – Don’t recognize employees only at the holidays, but rather throughout the year.

During the last couple of weeks, I’ve seen several media articles and blog posts on this topic. None are worth pointing back to as the advice is the same stuff I’m sure you’ve all read again and again, year after year.

So what do I advise instead?

  1. Stop making recognition an annual spectacle! Make it ongoing throughout the year.
    Whether it’s the Winter Turkey or the Spring Employee Appreciation Day tchotchke, limiting recognition and reward to “special events” dilutes the power of recognition. When you wait for “a day” or “an event” to recognize someone for something amazing they did many months prior, they forget why they’re being recognized.  Instead, recognize people throughout the year in a timely way so they quickly begin to associate positive recognition and reinforcement with the values and behaviors you want them to demonstrate again and again in their daily work.
  2. Then at holiday celebrations, call attention to particular moments of greatness that occurred throughout the year across the organization.
    Once you’ve established the tradition of frequent, timely recognition throughout the year, you can highlight major accomplishments or specific recognition moments at the holiday celebration or gathering (or in any other mechanism you may have used in the past for your holiday rewards.)

It’s important to remember that going the extra distance at the holidays is fine if that’s part of your company’s culture. It’s leaving recognition to JUST the holidays that causes problems and dramatically reduces the ROI you could be realizing for your employee recognition and reward investment.

What’s the craziest holiday recognition or reward you’ve ever received?

Everyone Guesses Everyone Else’s Motivators Incorrectly

2012 14 Nov

Recognize This! – Money does not motivate. It compensates.

What motivates us at work is ultimately a very personal and individual topic, though generalities do apply. That’s why I get a chuckle out of research study after research study showing we nearly always guess incorrectly what would motivate others.

Case in point, research out of Duke University and George Mason University discussed on the Blanchard LeaderChat blog:

“In research from Duke University subjects were asked to rate what motivates them individually, and what motivates peers and superiors at different levels in an organization. In most cases, the subjects rated their peers and superiors as more interested in external incentives than they said was true for themselves.

“Funny thing is, senior executives make the same mistake when trying to identify what motivates their direct reports.  In separate research, Facer points to studies at George Mason University where executives emphasize external factors such as compensation, job security, and promotions while employees point to inherent factors such as interesting work, being appreciated for making meaningful contributions, and a feeling of being involved in decisions.

“The assumed focus on purely external motivators keeps executives and employees looking in the wrong places when trying to identify cures to the lingering lack of engagement in today’s workplaces.”

The bottom line is as simple as this – we like to assume throwing money at people will motivate them, but we are wrong. Yes, people need to be paid fairly and compensated well for the work they do and the value they bring to the organization. But after a point, cash doesn’t motivate or engage us in our work.

Steve Tobak weighed in on this discussion on CBS Moneywatch with this list of top 10 ways to motivate and retain staff – and not a single one of them has anything to do with compensation structure.

What does motivate?

  1. Recognition for work well done.
  2. A sense of accomplishment and delivery of work that is meaningful within the bigger picture.
  3. Knowledge of progress made.

If you want to motivate and engage your staff, recognize them for meaningful work and progress. Let peers recognize each other for the same as well.

How does your organization primarily try to motivate employees?

You Do What’s Rewarding for You

2012 2 Nov

Recognize This! – Intrinsic and extrinsic rewards are equally valuable and have equally strategic roles to play in employee reward and recognition.

One HR blogger I enjoy reading is Mike Haberman. He recently boiled down the entire discussion of employee rewards to this salient point:

“The whole concept of reward is to perpetuate behaviors that are desirable to the organization. This is the whole concept of motivation in all its numerous guises. The most recent version is Pink’s Motivation 2.0. Regardless of how you dress it up, behavior occurs because it is rewarded, whether it is some external reward or some internal reward. The bottom line is you get what you reward.”

In just four sentences, Mike simplifies what many try to make so complicated – you do things you get rewarded for. Please note, those of you who immediately thought of Gen Y and their (false) reputation for wanting recognition and rewards at every turn, this isn’t a grab for more rewards. Indeed, Mike makes that clear. These rewards can be intrinsic as well as extrinsic.

You do things because you reward yourself. – This is the mark of truly intrinsic rewards. You’re self-motivated to achieve whatever task you have set before you, whether it’s a work related task or something personal like losing weight or exercising more. You engage in the activity and give it your best because of the personal reward you will give yourself in the form of self-satisfaction at a job well done.

You do things because others reward you. – This sounds harsh, but it really isn’t. We all do things because we want others to notice us, see our good work praise us for it. The “reward” can be in the form of simple acknowledgement and recognition of your achievement or it can be tangible in many different forms. The point is, for extrinsic rewards of this stripe, you’re likely giving it your all for the accolades you anticipate from others.

We need to stop thinking of extrinsic rewards in negative terms. Strategic employee recognition and rewards are largely extrinsic, but designed to reinforce the positive behaviors and outcomes you’ve codified in your company’s core values and strategic objectives. When giving extrinsic praise, recognition and – yes – rewards, you’re powerfully communicating to employees, “What you just did there – and how you did it – that was great! Keep doing more of that!”

And that’s a good thing.

Why do you do things?

3 Goblins of Employee Recognition

2012 31 Oct

1276138halloweengoblins

Recognize This! – Be sure to treat your employees with recognition and not trick them.

(In honour of Halloween, I’m reposting in full my blog that appeared on Compensation Cafe today.)

On this day of ghouls, goblins and other frightening beasties, let’s look at three of the most common goblins of employee recognition I hope never grace your organization’s doorstep.

1) Fake Praise Goblin

This goblin looks good at first, enticing you with superficial pretty words and phrases. But when you dig a little deeper, you discover nothing but poor intentions. Fake praise takes many forms, including the compliment sandwich that often sounds something like: “Great job on the MacGuffin project, but you could have done better with the primary deliverable. You do good work, so I’m confident you’ll do better next time.” Such fake praise only confuses the recipient, who is left wondering if they did a good job or not.

Other fake praise goblins include casual, passing “Thanks!” with no specifics around what you’re thanking the person for and praise followed by an “ask.”

Strip off the mask – Don’t let this goblin ruin your company culture and positive work environment. Make sure the praise you give is specific and detailed so the recipient understands fully why they’re being recognized and what they should do more of in the future. Keep your praise separate from requests or constructive criticism so employees can enjoy the celebration of their achievement without the cloud of more deliverables or expectations to come.

2) Limited Participation Goblin

Too often, I hear about organizations permitting recognition and reward programs for certain segments of employees (e.g., sales, corporate office only) or worse, launching a pilot program at headquarters and promising to eventually roll out the new recognition program to all employees everywhere. To those on the “inside team” this isn’t a goblin at all! They get to participate, recognizing and rewarding each other for their good work. For those on the outside, however, they are left feeling like second-class citizens. Worse yet is telling most employees you don’t trust them enough to recognize each other, and that’s a manager privilege only.

Strip off the mask – If your goal is to create a culture of recognition and appreciation across your organization, then empower all employees (regardless of location, level or group) to recognize and reward each other from day one. Tell everyone the goal is to “catch someone doing something good” and turn them loose. You’ll be surprised how quickly this goblin turns into a gem.

3) Inappropriate Rewards Goblin

I’ve written several posts on Compensation Café and elsewhere on this particular goblin, relating stories of iPods given to deaf employees, forced dancing as a reward, self-congratulations, and rewards so bad you have to tie employees down to give it to them.

Strip off the mask – Always remember, just because you think something is a great reward doesn’t mean others will see it the same way. If you’re going to offer a truly strategic employee recognition and rewards program, then let the employees choose the rewards for themselves. That way, you’ll never have to worry about giving a vegan a gift card to a steakhouse.

What other goblins of employee recognition gone wrong have you seen or experienced?

Compensation Cafe Round-up: Recognition, Rewards & Compensation from Every Angle

2012 19 Oct

Recognize This! – People need recognition, want good rewards, and hope for relief from overwork due to actions taken during the recession.

Today’s post is a round-up of my recent posts on Compensation Cafe.

You Can Never Give Too Much Recognition (August 20, 2012)

One question I’m often asked is, “Can’t you recognize too much or too often? Doesn’t that water down the effect and impact of recognition?” My answer is nearly always to ask another question, “Have you ever received too much recognition?” The answer is invariably, “No.” Find out why in this post (including why I can’t wait to see the new Wreck-It Ralph animated movie).

Employee Rewards: What Do They Want, Anyway? (September 7, 2012)

Occasionally, I like to share with you the horrible storiesI hear of employee recognition and rewards gone wrong. While my cache of stories is, sadly, fairly limitless, today I’ll share just two.

  1. If You Have to Tie Employees Down to Give Them Their Reward, It’s Not Rewarding
  2. If the Employee Has to Wait 30 Years to Be Appreciated, It’s not Rewarding

Read the details of these terrible stories on Compensation Cafe.

What to Do if Salaries Can’t Keep Pace with Economic Recovery (September 17, 2012)

Let me ask you something. During the worst of the recession, did your organization reduce headcount? Did people take on the tasks of those who were let go? Did you freeze salaries? If you answered “Yes” to any of those questions, you’re certainly not alone. But here comes the challenge. As the recovery continues to strengthen (if slowly), what are you doing now? In this post, I talk in more depth about the four options I see for companies as we move forward in the recovery:

  1. Continue as you have
  2. Don’t raise salaries but hire more workers
  3. Increase (or simply restore) salaries but do not hire more workers
  4. Increase salaries of your current workforce and hire more workers

Executive Compensation: What the Conversation Can Tell Us  (October 9, 2012)

A couple of influencers got me curious on when CEO pay and compensation became part of our lexicon. I look at the history of language around these terms, concluding with this. People notice. People question. People discuss. Yes, most understand CEOs bear more of the burden of decision making and more of the risk, but people also notice company results and pay are often disconnected. If your goal is to motivate and engage all employees to give their best every day, be sure you keep your finger firmly on the pulse of employee sentiment and discussion on this topic, too.