Remember getting a gold star for a job well done? Even more, remember the feeling of pride and self confidence you felt when you were presented with the gold star among your group of peers? The arena that we play in may have changed over time, but the feelings never go away. Employee recognition is as important and relevant now as it ever was, and gold stars go a long way in boosting morale.

While talk of a down economy has many of us feeling a little dispirited, managing those feelings among employees and turning them around is the task that many organizations are now faced with. While employee incentive programs can be a powerful tool in an arsenal towards re-engaging and motivating employees, there are several other steps that can be taken by an organization. What’s more, if implemented properly and consistently, they can create loyalty among employees towards the organization. This in itself will carry your organization through any downturns.

Effective leadership and communication are fundamental in promoting a positive environment during uncertain times. Leaders that can sincerely recognize, show interest, and reward employees who continue to make a positive “impact on an organizations future,” will reap the benefits. This is where clear communication plays a part and good managers will take every opportunity to celebrate and “publicize their employees achievements.” Internal company newsletters, team meetings, e-mails or even a good old fashioned handshake are all ways to communicate achievements. The important thing is to do it with enough frequency so that it resonates with your workforce and promotes a culture of positive reinforcement (Byam, 2009)1.

Involving your employees in open communication and gathering their input on such things as incentives or the current situation of your organization, will help them feel more secure and engaged. Transparency during and after times of change in an organization, is critical to maintaining trust (Watson Wyatt, 2009)2. Not to mention, when employees see that they have a direct impact on the type of incentives that are of value to them, then they are more likely to participate in working towards them. Encourage your employees to contribute ideas for team based activities such as a potluck lunch to strengthen ties among co-workers. Promoting affinity and mutual trust between employees will lead to a sense of shared commitment to each other and the organization.

Regardless of the times, many of the above tactics should be employed continually in an effort to create a work environment that breeds motivated employees and a positive culture. While we can get lost in the day to day stress of keeping up with everything that needs to get accomplished, its sometimes a nice change of pace to stop and recognize what is going on in your organization and who are the gold stars that continue to shine in good or bad times.

________________________________________________________

¹ Byam, Mike. Five Ways to WOW! Employees on a Budget, Incentive Magazine; The Recession Survival Guide. February, 18, 2009. Retrieved from http://www.managesmarter.com

² Watson Wyatt. Consistent, Open Communication Crucial During Layoffs, According to Watson Wyatt, Watson Wyatt. March 10, 2009, Press Release. Retrieved from http://news.prnewswire.com

A recent survey conducted by Career Builder found that nearly four in ten (38%) of employers plan to cut back on various employee benefits in an effort to curb overall operating expenses (CareerBuilder.com, 2009)¹. If you’re a manager who’s been told to cut budgets and try to squeeze every last penny out of your programs, then you are not alone! However, if you started with your employee incentive program, then you may want to take a minute to re-assess the value of these programs and how they can help you through the economic downturn. Now is in fact the time for incentives and the time to take steps to grow and flourish as an organization despite the bleak economic outlook. Doing so, will not only manage your current situation, but set you towards a promising future.

Sometimes it’s all in the way we look at things that determines the final outcome. In a recent interview with Incentive Magazine, Patrick Lencioni (President of The Table Group, a management consulting firm focused on improving teamwork and employee engagement) makes a great point by stating that we have to ask ourselves the fundamental question: “Do we believe things will get better?” (Lencioni, 2009)². If the answer is no, then we’ve essentially pigeon-holed ourselves into an inevitable conclusion. However, most people would admit that in due time, the economy will rebound and we should take this time to invest in employees; the backbone of every organization.

Now is the time when employee morale can be low and employers are looking for ways to energize and restore confidence. The reasons for low morale are many: whether it’s worries about money, job security, the stress of having to take on more work as a result of company layoffs, or the general media negativity seen and heard all around, the impact of the situation can be overwhelming. As such, it is the role of organizations, and more specifically upper management and HR, to help employees feel secure and reduce their level of fear and anxiety. Employee incentives, coupled with positive communication and leadership, are steps in the right direction to re-engage and motivate employees towards a common organizational goal.

Now is the time when a tiny gesture of recognition through an incentive will go a long way in restoring morale. During a time of abundance, when everyone was living in a sea of prosperity, such gestures could go unnoticed. The same is no longer true and many organizations are finding that a small reward and, more importantly the recognition it carries, are doing wonders in making employees feel valued. The impact of such gestures can be amplified further if the reward is personalized through symbols that the recipient identifies with (eg. their name or project name). This can be easily accomplished through customized and personalized gift cards.

Now is the time when talent management must be considered a top priority within an organization. Current conditions in the economy can leave an organization vulnerable towards a talent sweep by the competition. Maintaining your current talent workforce will not only sustain you through the down times, but it will also ensure that your organization is ready to compete during boom times. Some industry experts suggest that this environment can lead to greater innovation and discovery of new efficient procedures (Hebert, 2009)³. An incentive for idea generation can be built into your current program to recognize the top talent in your organization.

Hbc Gift Cards has incentive solutions that can fit in with your existing program. Talk to us today about the many options that are available from standard, to personalized and customized Gift Cards. Visit www.hbc.com/b2b or call us at 1-888-461-2323 to learn more.

_________________________________________________________

1 CareerBuilder, Nearly 40 Percent of Employers Plan to Trim Benefits and Office Perks This Year, Finds New CareerBuilder.com Survey. Press Release, February 18,2009, Chicago. Retrieved from http://www.careerbuilder.com

2 Lencioni, Patrick. Leaders, Take a Ride on the “Down Economy” Bandwagon, Incentive Magazine; The Recession Survival Guide. February 20, 2009.  Retrieved from http://www.managesmarter.com

3 Hebert, Paul. Now Is Your Chance…Thrive!, Incentive Magazine; The Recession Survival Guide. February 19, 2009. Retrieved from http://www.managesmarter.com

Written by Mike Allan

Motivation. It’s the fuel that gets us all moving toward our goals. It’s what wakes us up to face the day each morning and what lives in our dreams when we go to sleep at night. If we could bottle it, patent it and put it on a shelf, we’d all be millionaires.

But is motivation something that dwells only within an individual, or can we (as HR Professionals) guide it, shape it and bend it to our will? Can employee incentives really motivate lasting changes in behavior? To answer this question, we need to delve more deeply in to the science behind motivation.

According to the interim results from the Hbc 2007 HR INCENTIVE SURVEY (hbccards.com/survey), the number one ‘Point of Pain’ among HR Professionals who have responded to date is low motivation. Obviously, motivational issues are a major concern to HR professionals and ways of improving motivation among employees are highly sought after.

There are really two types of motivators intrinsic and extrinsic.

Extrinsic motivators are things that are external to one’s self. They are outside forces such as money, promotions, rewards, etc. Intrinsic motivators are forces internal to one’s self. Things like self esteem, satisfaction, pleasure, etc.

Intrinsic motivators are generally considered much more powerful because, like almost everything involving human beings, we give weight to what manifests from within ourselves more than manifests from outside. In short, they are more powerful, because they are more personal.

When we talk about incentives in the HR world, we are almost always talking about extrinsic motivators such as cash, prizes, points or the like. We have all been taught to believe that extrinsic rewards alone can motivate action.

In fact, there is good evidence to suggest that the opposite is often true. Adding an extrinsic reward (such as cash) to an action that was previously performed for intrinsic reasons (say, a passion for craftsmanship) can often reduce the desired behavior.

The reason could be as simple as this. By taking an activity that was previously engaged in for intrinsic reasons (more powerful) and adding an extrinsic incentive (less powerful) we have somehow ‘cheapened’ that activity in the mind of the individual being affected. As an example, think of anyone you know who works in a job they’re passionate about, versus someone who works purely for the money.

So does this mean the idea of providing employee incentives is ineffective? Not at all!

Extrinsic rewards are easily assignable to other individuals, but are not as powerful. Intrinsic rewards are extremely powerful motivators, but because they come from within, they’re inherently difficult to assign to other individuals.

So, we need to find a way to tie extrinsic incentives we can assign to our employees with the intrinsic benefits that motivate them on an individual basis. Viola!!! An Employee Incentives program this is both easily assignable and yet individually powerful at the same time!

Let’s look at an example using a typical employee. For argument’s sake, let’s call him Bob. It’s quite easy to provide a temporary boost in motivation by providing Bob an extrinsic reward such as a cash bonus, time off or a gift card he can redeem for whatever he’d like. However, we have yet to tap into Bob’s deeper, more powerful motivation hot buttons by attaching this extrinsic reward to something that will motivate Bob on a personal level.

And therein lies on of the biggest (and most overlooked) opportunities in the world of corporate incentives today, linking the extrinsic rewards we offer our employees and customer, to a more personal, more powerful intrinsic benefit that will provide stronger and longer lasting motivation for improvement.

Lets go back to the example of our now model employee, Bob. If Bob receives a $100 cash bonus each time he meets his monthly quota for sales, he quickly learns the cause and effect relationship and will strive to meet this minimum goal each month.

You’re probably saying to yourself, “that’s good, isn’t it?”. Well, yes and no. We are in fact, creating effective change in Bob’s behavior and achieving our collective goals. However, we’ve failed to affect change on a deeper, more personal level — we’ve failed to tie the extrinsic benefit of a cash bonus to a more personal, more powerful intrinsic benefit.

So what could we have done differently? Well, for starters, we could think very carefully about the ‘other’ reasons Bob might actually want to contribute to the goal. How about the ‘thrill of the kill,’ the rush that comes from making the deal? The desire to be recognized and praised in front of his peers? Any of these intrinsic motivators could be trigger-points for Bob that will provide more powerful and longer lasting motivation then cash alone.

The problem is, how do we tie these powerful, personal motivators (which we can’t control), to a less powerful but easily shaped extrinsic motivator such as a monetary reward (which we can control).

The answer lies in the concepts of sentiment and context.

Context is simply the situational relevance of the incentive received. In other words, what are the specifics of the situation that resulted in the reward being given and received. Was it for reaching a specific sales target? Referring a new employee? Closing a huge account? In order for Bob to be motivated by the incentive to perform similar acts in the future, he needs to be completely clear on the context in which the incentive was given.

The second and much more important component of the incentive is the sentiment. The sentiment is essentially the feelings, emotions and thoughts we are intending to evoke in the recipient, by giving the incentive. It is the sentiment that is missing from most of the corporate incentives work being done today. In short, it’s not enough to help Bob understand the reason the incentive was given, he must also deeply feel the intrinsic benefit of achieving the goal.

So, how do we do this? Simple – Personalization. By personalizing the incentive to the experience, we can tie the extrinsic benefit of the incentive itself, with the intrinsic benefits that will truly motivate and even inspire Bob over the long term.

To understand how this might work in Bob’s case, let’s look at a specific example, using a gift card as the incentive.

Let’s say our collective goal is for Bob to lead his sales team to their best year ever, surpassing all previous records. Let’s also say that we’ve broken this lofty goal down into a series of more bit-sized monthly goals and that we’re willing to provide a monthly incentive of a gift card loaded with a percentage of the increase in sales over last year’s figures for that month (a great extrinsic incentive).

There is no doubt that this extrinsic incentive alone might provide certain level of additional motivation for Bob to at least achieve the minimal level of sales required. However, there’s more we can do in this case. We can tap into Bob’s inherent desire to lead and succeed, by reminding him of why he’s reached the level he’s at and why he wants to take it to the next level as well, not just for the benefit of the organization, but for himself as well.

The sentiment we wish to invoke in this case might be the passion he feels for the ‘thrill of the kill’ that got him into this game in the first place – and the same passion that has brought him to this point in his career up until now. We can invoke these feelings and tie them to the desired actions by simply acknowledging the context for which the incentive was given, and weaving them together with the sentiment we’re hoping to invoke.

Say, for example, that we replace the generic gift card we were planning to give Bob for meeting his monthly targets, with a more personalized gift card and signed, personalized letter that both reiterate the context and sentiment we’re looking for.

Going back for a moment to the Hbc 2007 HR INCENTIVE SURVEY, the majority of respondents have stated they ‘strongly agree’ that offering more personalized incentives would Increase the employee’s goodwill/appreciation for the reward. They also ‘strongly agree’ that more personalization would increase the employee’s motivation to perform well in the future. Clearly, personalization is catching-on in the world of employee incentives, and HR professionals are beginning to respond accordingly.

There are virtually as many contexts and sentiments for providing incentives as our creative minds can conceive, including examples from these universal categories:

1. apologies/win-backs

2. congratulations

3. holidays

4. introductions

5. milestones

6. thank yous, and

7. welcomes

Remember, the time the extrinsic benefit reaches fruition is at the time of redemption of the incentive (in this case, the gift card). In other words, the goodwill created by the incentive is fully realized when the recipient actually redeems the gift card, much more so then when it is received. It is important that the desired sentiment is reinforced at this point as well, if we hope to permanently make the connection between the context and the sentiment. This is the true power the personalized gift card can provide.

So remember, when searching for a way to motivate your employees that is both powerful and long lasting; don’t overlook the effect of personalization. By personalizing both the context and sentiment of the incentive, you’ll magnify the effect of your incentive and reap a far greater return in the long run.

Published in Workplace News. July/August 2007. Volume 13. Issue 4