U.S. business spends billions annually to rev up workers. In the travel incentive business alone, there are now thousands of service companies that develop and/or run trips to reward employees, as opposed to a few hundred companies a decade ago.
What methods are most used? How can you choose and implement a motivational program that will match your needs and get results? Matt S. Walton III is a managing principal in Los Angeles for Sibson & Co. Inc. , a management consulting firm based in Princeton, NJ that develops compensation and incentive programs. He describes the most common types of programs and offers insights and guidelines:
- Rewards. Trips, televisions, cash—all can be powerful incentives to pump up performance and boost profits. “Reward programs are especially effective when used with sales and customer service representatives,” says Walton. He cautions that, for the reward to be meaningful, it should relate to specific performance measures established in advance. For example, bank personnel might be offered a reward for getting a certain number of customers to buy a CD within a 30-day period.
Reward programs can falter when they are not implemented in the context of employee recognition. Explains Walton: “If handled appropriately, a reward program communicates to employees, ‘You are terrific and special because you exceeded expectations. As a token of our appreciation, we are giving you this VCR, vacation or whatever.’ If you just hand out prizes, they come to be expected and lose their meaning.”
Walton points out that rewards need to be supported by recognition of each individual’s achievements along with appropriate fanfare. Giving employees a plaque and publishing their names in the house organ, for example, can have a greater motivational effect than awarding prizes without the pat on the back that gives them meaning.
- Guest speakers. Hiring Fran Tarkenton to kick off a sales convention, or Ken Blanchard to rally first-line managers before a new product introduction, can supply a potent shot of adrenaline. “Over time, managers’ pep talks tend to go stale,” says Walton. “You can be the most charismatic manager in the world, but when your people hear you saying the same things day in and day out, they tend to turn off. The same message, communicated by a known personality who has earned a reputation for superior performance, can work employees into a heightened state of enthusiasm.”
Lecturers are especially effective as part of a short-term project where it’s important to get workers committed. Be aware, however, that the duration of a speaker’s impact is actually very short. “The most dynamic personality will leave people on a high for three days at the most,” says Walton. Do not expect the speaker to communicate more than one point or theme. If you want someone to explain the complexities of a new strategy, do that yourself.
- Seminars. There are two types of motivational seminars: “hard” and “soft.” The former motivates employees by communicating quantifiable, practical skills which can be easily translated into on- the-job effectiveness..
If you send employees to seminars like these, make sure that the content is consistent with the philosophy and practices of your organization. For example, an employee returning from a seminar on problem solving may set about proposing innovative solutions and suggestions, only to find that the company’s managerial mindset discourages exercising such initiative.
“Soft” programs rely on dynamic or guru-type leaders who attempt to fire up participants with pop psychology terminologyand “self-actualization” exercises. “Ninety-eight percent of these seminars are worthless,” says Walton. “The leaders are essentially entertainers who convey simple platitudes like, ‘If you believe in yourself, you’ll be a winner.’ ”
- Self-instructive programs. These include books and audio- and videotape programs supplemented by workbooks.
These are especially valuable when you lack the budget for a more elaborate program, says Walton. They can also stimulate an exchange of ideas between you and the employee during which you can motivate the employee directly.
Observation: “When you decide to buy a motivational program, you stand a better chance of getting it approved if you thoroughly research it before presenting the idea to your superiors,” advises Walton. Write up your justification for the idea (”to give recognition to the top ten performers”), the desired outcome (”to motivate the team to produce its best so we can double sales“), and specifics on the program, including the name of the consultant(s) you’d like to use and your estimated budget.
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