Rewards & Recognition

Here’s What to Do if You Want Employees to Quit on the Spot

by Derek Irvine on May 18, 2012, 7:17 AM | 1 comment

I’ve been having an interesting email discussion with a UK doctoral candidate whose thesis is focused on qualitative recognition and reward program research, especially on “recognition gone wrong.”

As part of that discussion, she shared with me this story:

For instance, in an organisation I studied recently, recognition was being used to ‘soften the blow’ of a disappointing pay review and was actually undermining the relationship between manager and employee it was intended to support.”

I’ve heard horrifying stories of recognition gone wrong (like giving an iPod to a deaf guy or mispronouncing/misspelling the name of the recognition recipient at a major awards function), but this story takes bad recognition practices to a new low. Read more…

Compensation, Rewards & Recognition

When You Reward, Make It About the Employee – Not the Employer

by Carol Schultz on May 16, 2012, 11:27 AM | 7 Comments

If you have ever had occasion to reward talent there is one question you must ask before you can begin to answer the question of how to reward high performers:

“What motivates the employee you’re looking to reward?”

Different things motivate different people

Is the person you’re rewarding an hourly employee? Salaried? Commission based?

If it’s a money-motivated type, cash is typically king. Read more…

Rewards & Recognition, Talent Management

Employee Loyalty? No, It’s Not Dead – It Just Changed Hands

by Derek Irvine on May 16, 2012, 7:17 AM | 5 Comments

Employee loyalty is one of those topics that can divide a room.

Well, at least room full of HR Pros who live and breathe recruiting, retention and productivity. Some argue loyalty is long dead, thanks to corporate actions begun in the 1970s and ’80s. Others believe loyalty is alive and well, but to fellow colleagues and managers, not to the organization per se.

Regardless of your position, employee loyalty can have a profound impact on organization culture and business results, not to mention individual employee engagement, performance and productivity. Read more…

Rewards & Recognition

Hiring Wisdom: Simple Things You Can Do to Engage & Motivate Employees

by Mel Kleiman on May 14, 2012, 9:28 AM | Comments Off

Some of these things cost no money at all, just a little time and effort.

Open and frequent communications to build trust (never lie or color the truth).
On-the-Spot Rewards and Recognition programs – which ANYONE can give to another employee for a special reason (the other employee addresses and solves a problem that is not their responsibility to fix). Read more…

Rewards & Recognition

3 Things You Should Never Do in Employee Recognition

by Derek Irvine on May 11, 2012, 7:20 AM | No comments yet

Case studies provide an exceptional opportunity to learn – both the good and the “misguided.” Here are three misguided employee recognition case studies to learn from this week.

1) Limit the “winners circle” to just a few

A primary attribute of strategic recognition is its ability to convey your most important objectives and values to all employees in a personal, meaningful way. But that only works when all employees feel they are active participants – both in the giving and receiving of such recognition. Campbell’s ‘Healthy Lifestyle Award’ misses the mark on nearly every front: Read more…

Rewards & Recognition

Rewarding the Process, Not Just the Results: 5 Overlooked Opportunities

by Jennifer Vecchi on May 8, 2012, 9:27 AM | No comments yet

When I first wrote about The People-First Approach: Rewarding the Process Rather Than the Results a month ago, it created a stir among some HR professionals and business leaders.

The implication was that I was only advocating incentives that rewarded the sales process, and by doing so, disagreed with the idea of rewarding the end results. This couldn’t be further from the truth. As a resource provider of incentive travel awards, I believe in rewarding every part of the process AND the end results!

I was merely trying to point out that many companies only focus on rewarding the end result and fail to recognize other accomplishments that occur during the sales process. And many of those accomplishments can lead to amazing changes in behavior while creating better working relationships among employees. Read more…

Rewards & Recognition, Talent Management

The Key to Motivation: Constant, Consistent Managerial Communication

by Derek Irvine on May 8, 2012, 8:32 AM | No comments yet

A recent post in the Great Leadership blog on “The Top 5 Mistakes Leaders Make” is my inspiration for today’s post. I agree with post author Beth Armknecht Miller and appreciate the attention she has called to managerial focus, communication, feedback, goal-setting and motivation.

So much of “good management” falls out of a leader’s ability to consistently, constantly communicate well with members of their teams.

Just this weekend I heard an interesting statistic that in a mere 72 hours you will forget 95 percent of what you hear today. It’s a natural defense mechanism of your brain to parse and “save” only the information it deems most necessary for survival.

In the workplace, that’s unacceptable, of course. Managers cannot rely on “I told you that last week” as reason enough to expect employees to remember and correctly implement instructions given. Read more…

Compensation, Rewards & Recognition

How Rewards Programs Can Make Your Strategy Perform Better

by Ann Bares on May 7, 2012, 11:30 AM | No comments yet

I like to argue that we should be holding our compensation programs – and the money they represent – to a higher standard.

Research examining how well company strategy delivers on its potential – and where and why it fails – sheds some light on the important contributions that rewards can make.

Your reward programs, in reality, do a lot of things beyond delivering economic and psychic value to employees. Any of you who’ve bumped into the unintended repercussions of a misguided incentive plan know this to be true.

Reward programs also: Read more…

Rewards & Recognition

Praising People: The Trick Is Keeping It Focused on the Positive

by Derek Irvine on May 4, 2012, 7:17 AM | No comments yet

Blanchard Leader Chat has quickly become one of my favorite blogs. The insights are nearly always on-point and targeted to helping all of us (regardless of our official position in the org chart) to become better leaders.

Case in point: this recent post on “The 3 Times When You Shouldn’t Praise People at Work”:

“Catching someone doing things right is one of the most rewarding and enjoyable things a manager gets to do. It shows people that you’re paying attention, that their work matters to you, and most importantly, it shows that you care about them. Read more…

Compensation, Rewards & Recognition

The Peril of Stretch Goals: Why They Can Be Demotivating & Dangerous

by Ann Bares on May 1, 2012, 7:15 AM | 2 Comments

Dan Markovitz’s recent Harvard Business Review post on The Folly of Stretch Goals brings to mind a development in my own management incentive plan design work over recent years, as my clients and I address heightened concerns about risk and unintended consequences.

Markovitz, in his call for us to dispense with “the management absurdity known as ‘stretch goals,’ ” lists three important reasons that their demise is necessary. (None of which, hopefully, will come as a surprise to anyone working with employee rewards.)

Stretch goals can be terribly demotivating.
Stretch goals have a dangerous tendency to foster unethical behavior.
Stretch goals can also lead to excessive risk taking. Read more…

Rewards & Recognition

Here’s What to Do if You Want Employees to Quit on the Spot

When You Reward, Make It About the Employee – Not the Employer

Different things motivate different people

Employee Loyalty? No, It’s Not Dead – It Just Changed Hands

Hiring Wisdom: Simple Things You Can Do to Engage & Motivate Employees

3 Things You Should Never Do in Employee Recognition

1) Limit the “winners circle” to just a few

Rewarding the Process, Not Just the Results: 5 Overlooked Opportunities

The Key to Motivation: Constant, Consistent Managerial Communication

How Rewards Programs Can Make Your Strategy Perform Better

Praising People: The Trick Is Keeping It Focused on the Positive

The Peril of Stretch Goals: Why They Can Be Demotivating & Dangerous

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