Incentive - January 2008 - (Page 36)

well in the long run to mistreat people.” Beyond treating people well, Blanchard’s principles strive to foster trust and security, a true rarity in the buyout landscape of business nowadays but one that he sees as essential to long-term success. Like many companies, after 9/11, The Ken Blanchard Companies took a major blow to its profits. According to Blanchard, it lost a million and a half dollars that month. Unlike many companies, however, Blanchard refrained from laying people off, choosing instead to disclose the hard financial facts to employees and inviting them to propose ideas on how to cut costs. “So we had to cut $300-400,000 a month in expenses October, November and December to limp into the black. Now most people would say you have to get rid of some people, but we thought that that wasn’t right.” Task forces were formed to discuss solutions, and in the end, they came up with salary cuts; putting a halt on matching 401k investments; and a freeze on replacing exiting employees with new hires. Four and a half years later, the company was back to its normal health. To celebrate being out of the red, The Ken Blanchard Companies took 350 of its people to Hawaii. In 2006, San Diego Magazine, in partnership with Employers Group, an HR consultancy, based in Los Angeles, named The Ken Blanchard Companies one of the best workplaces in San Diego. Today, Blanchard says the company is having its best year ever. Helping people achieve worthwhile results while taking into consideration the concerns and feelings of all those involved is the essence of what Blanchard refers to in his latest book as higher-level leadership. As for which traits are important to becoming a successful leader, Blanchard says, “I think Jim Collins in [his book] Good to Great nailed two very important ones. He said the great managers do two things. They have resolve, they have determination to be great, to be the best, to perform at a high level. So you want people who are interested in results. But the second trait that he found, that he never would have anticipated, was humility. And people think that humility is a weakness. No, people with humility don’t think less about themselves, they just think about themselves less. And what you want is people who are interested in results but realize that they’re only going to get the results through people.” Blanchard’s company abounds in case studies that illustrate success in getting results with and through people. After conducting all of the training for the frontline people working the concession stands at the new San Diego Padres baseball stadium, PETCO Park, results were achieved in the first year. Blanchard says 7,500 unsolicited letters and e-mails were received from fans talking about how they were blown away by the stadium. Attendance was significantly higher than at the team’s former home, Qualcomm Stadium, which has a higher seating capacity. For Minera El Tesoro, Chilean producers of Grade A copper cathodes, The Ken Blanchard Companies implemented its Gung Ho! model, based on the book, Gung Ho! by Blanchard and Sheldon Bowles, in an effort to assist the South American mining company to increase production levels over a five-year span. By the fourth year, production levels were 29 percent over design capacity. In the process of achieving this, the company also saw a decrease in the frequency of accidents and was ranked one of the 10 Best Companies by Chile’s Great Places to Work Institute, and came in second place in ROI, according to the National Mining Society. Regarding incentives, Blanchard sees external rewards as very important to communicating clear goals, because they are an effective way of letting employees know when they’re doing a good job. The trouble comes, says Blanchard, when the award is decided upon before having any knowledge of who the recipient will be. “If you’re trying to give me an incentive,” says Blanchard, “I ought to have something to say about what’s motivating to me. That’s a pretty powerful thing people get a chance to say: ‘Boy, you’ve done a great job and we’d like to recognize those efforts. And here are some options for you.” Finding out what motivates people is the key to a successful incentive program, in Blanchard’s view, along with varying rewards and short- and long-term recognition. What he finds particularly fabulous in the incentive field is when employees get to choose their rewards from a wide selection of offerings. “We do that with baby gifts. Rather than sending somebody something they get 10 of, if you say, ‘We’re just so excited about the birth of your kid; here’s a booklet and we’ve earmarked a couple of hundred dollars for you,’ they go ‘Wow!’” For the same reason, Blanchard also likes the idea of gift cards. “I think those [gift cards] are great, because people can use them in ways that are really exciting for them and their families. It’s a much better way than a ‘here’s what you get.’ What motivates people is what motivates people. And people say, ‘Well, how do you know what motivates people?’ Well, ask them. If you really perform well this year and you accomplish your goals, and these kinds of rewards are what would be most rewarding to you, you got it!” “ I ought to have something to say about what’s motivating to me.”– Ken Blanchard 36 | Incentive | January 2008 | incentivemag.com http://incentivemag.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Incentive - January 2008

Incentive - January 2008 Contents Editor’s Note: Out of SITE In The News Cover Story: Include a Meeting, Improve Morale Case Study: DHL Delivers Recognition Incentive Primer: How To Use Promo Products How Bob Nardelli Rallied Chrysler’s Dealers Incentive Interview: Ken Blanchard Says Be Nice TV’s Extreme Makeover Motivates Giving Pre-Employment Motivation The Daycare Dilemma Happy Employees Shouldn’t Mix with Sick Employees Incentive Research: Consumer Promotions Report In Her Shoes: Winning Approval Of Flextime Travel News Field Report: Barcelona Field Report: Bermuda Golf: Follow The Pros potentials Here and Now Watches As Jewelry Awards: Online Gift Cards Tech Gadgets for 2008 Last Word: Stanley Bing Bashes Bully Bosses

Incentive - January 2008

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