Incentive - March 2008 - (Page 27)

upon this fundamental idea, that employees are motivated by a sense of purpose, which can best be generated through recognition for delivering great service to the client or customer. “If we set up our internal processes, our internal systems, our procedures, all of our business mechanisms in ways that are focused on delighting customers, it gives employees the opportunity to shine as heroes in the eyes of those customers,” says Levesque. “I personally have never seen anywhere on the planet a business that was highly motivated where customer service levels weren’t also sky-high. I have never seen one in absence of the other. They are always together. The one feeds the other.” By way of example, Levesque tells the story of a small pharmacy. An employee he calls “Terry”) is encouraged by his manager Why should I care? Even if companies embrace flashpoint cultures, there will inevitably be those workers who don’t see where their effort matters. Go to Incentive’s podcast page to hear Paul Levesque tell the story of one such employee and what it took to turn him around. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.incentivemag.com/podcasts with strong loyalty from both clients and workers. “There is a deep-seated, human need to help others, to do something useful and necessary in the world,” says Levesque. “That’s not just sort of a whim that some people have. Many of the people who have devoted their lives to studying the psychology of human motivation conclude without hesita- “There is a deep-seated human need to help others, to do something useful and necessary in the world.” to come up with ways to enhance the customer experience at the store. Terry suggests putting a bench out front for elderly customers to rest on. The manager puts the bench out front and it is greatly appreciated by the customers, so the manager honors Terry’s contribution by putting a sign up by the bench that reads “Terry’s Bench” and forwards the words of appreciation back to Terry, ensuring that he is recognized for his idea. The customers are pleased, and the employee is recognized by their appreciation and feels motivated to innovate further ways to please them. This is what Levesque calls a “flashpoint culture,” which he has seen move businesses from high turnover rates and low profits to vibrant successes tion and without equivocation that that is built right into our genetic makeup.” Though Levesque most often draws from his own experiences to support his concepts of employee motivation, he has also found much support for his ideas from the worlds of psychology and sociology. Such resources as Abraham Maslow’s oftcited hierarchy of human needs as well as a clutch of recent studies that indicate humans are happier and healthier when focused on helping others show that people are more motivated by a sense of a job well done than material self-interest. Neurological researchers have found in recent studies that giving to others, by donating money or performing altruistic deeds, activates the same reward center in the brain as pleasurable activities like eating or experiencing a pleasant touch. In these psychologists’ views, selflessness benefits the giver as well as the recipient. Levesque sees the same pleasure process at work in motivated employees who are energized by seeing their work appreciated; they are less likely, he contends, to be motivated by material rewards than by the simple act of helping a customer. “The assumption management was making is ‘The reason [employees] don’t deliver a good customer experience is because they’re not motivated,’” says Levesque. “The converse is true: The organization did not empower them or make it easy for them to deliver a positive customer experience, and that has a profoundly de-motivating effect.” The successful businesses are those that give their employees the freedom to do their job brilliantly, that maximize the natural motivation offered by a job well done as much as the extra boost that formal recognition and rewards provide. According to Levesque, managers must continually answer the question of “why should I care?” for employees, using customer feedback as well as recognition and rewards to help workers see how valuable their work is, in turn giving them the enthusiasm to work even harder. “You thought the reason you wanted to improve customer service was to improve profitability or to get more repeat business, or more customer loyalty. You will get all those things, but there’s an even more fundamental reason for doing it: It captures the minds, hearts and spirits of your workers. It gives them something meaningful to do,” says Levesque. “Will that change a culture? It will, it has, it does, it almost can’t fail.” incentivemag.com | March 2008 | Incentive | 27 http://www.incentivemag.com/podcasts http://www.incentivemag.com/podcasts http://incentivemag.com

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

Incentive - March 2008 Contents Editor’s Note: Delivering on Diversity In The News Cover Story: Leveraging Diversity in the Workplace Incentive Interview: Paul Levesque on Why Awards Fail Case Study: AEIS’ Max!-imum Incentive Program Mine Employees’ Creativity with Innovation Incentives Incentive Must-Reads The Third Annual Gift Card Roundtable My Turn: Motivation or Bribery? Everybody Get Together In Her Shoes: Why Bosses Should Be Flexible Incentive Primer: Passport Problem-Solving potentials Here and Now Is CES Electronics Heaven? China and Crystal: More Than a Pretty Face Travel News Florida: What’s New on the Beach? Smooth Sailing for Incentive Cruising Come To Hawaii And Take It Fast Last Word: But Enough About You

Incentive - March 2008

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