Incentive - October 2008 - (Page 21)

well as in incentive programs in which a mix of goals are pursued simultaneously. Seeing the big picture allows individuals to see that seemingly contradictory goals may actually complement one another. As Haudan says, “people want to put an ‘or’ between these goals when they can actually put an ‘and.’ ” He gives the example of Pepsi, which Root Learning worked with as Pepsi was considering a shift from incentives based on volume to ones based on increasing profit margin. The company leadership got into impassioned debates over whether margin or volume should be rewarded. When the group looked at the big picture of all seven of their various channels (from big box to mom & pop stores), they could see the various merits of both options. Looking at how to increase volume in high-margin channels and increase the margin of the high-volume channels, they were able to develop a more holistic incentive program that maximized the company’s resources. Haudan advocates using “visual iterations” like this one to help organizations get a clear and compelling understanding of their strategies and challenges Dramatic Incentives In The Art of Engagement, Haudan calls this “engaging people in the dramatic stories of the business.” As a lifelong sports fan who adventure and they see how what they do contributes to the end result.” Incentives are a valuable component in driving this “dramatic story” of the business, according to Haudan, and serve as stories themselves for individuals, who can be engaged by the thought of a valued reward for a strong performance. But he cautions that just as with a business’ larger strategies, the incentive program must bridge The Canyon of disconnection and disengagement. “It takes an understanding of the whole for the pieces to make sense.” coached high school football before he began at Root Learning 13 years ago, he has seen how the compelling narrative of a game can draw out the passion and dedication of thousands. According to Haudan, there’s no reason a company can’t create a similar atmosphere in the workplace. “Whether it’s a baseball game or waiting in line for a Harry Potter book or at a Jimmy Buffett concert, we don’t have to stop and see if people are engaged or not,” says Haudan. “People feel like they’re part of something bigger than themselves—they see the whole, there’s a sense of belonging, a purposeful “I am amazed at the number of companies that use incentives to drive or reinforce behavior, where the incentive is not understood by the employees,” says Haudan. “If you don’t see the incentive as a system that really has choices and consequences, then you can’t possibly hope to get more of the choices and consequences.” He admits that giving individuals the whole picture of the incentive program might cause some of the current incentives to be challenged as workers suggest that certain behaviors deserve more rewards than they are currently given and other behaviors less. In the long run, Haudan explains, this is just the kind of questioning that needs to take place for an incentive program to work effectively: “Sometimes we think we’re rewarding something worthwhile, then realize that’s not the best thing to reward.” While it needs to be made clear what behaviors are rewarded, the rewards themselves must also be clearly desirable in a way that gets the employees excited, according to Haudan. Cash, unwanted products or those without a clear value to the winner all fail to create compelling cause-and-effect narratives that stick with the individuals as they perform their work, he says. With the four-generation composition of today’s workplace, choosing the right reward becomes even more crucial, Haudan says. “While companies may have traditionally seen employees as a general mass, it’s become much more important to think of them in terms of segmentation and what’s really valued,” says Haudan, comparing it to the different target markets companies reach out to with their products and advertising. “Value is always defined by the recipient and not the provider. The definition of value can’t be set by the organization out; it has to be contemplated by the receiver back.” s Send comments to alex.palmer@incentivemag.com incentivemag.com | October 2008 | Incentive | 21 http://www.incentivemag.com

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Incentive - October 2008 Contents Editor's Note Headlines Cover Story: Face Time with Senior Executives is the Top Motivator of Cisco Systems' Chairman's Club Winners Incentive Interview Safety Incentives: Safety Drives a Limousine Service's Motivational Efforts Case Study Primer Learning: Diving into Incentives for the Mind Enhances Both Loyalty and the Bottom Line Research: Travel IQ Travel News Florida Coast to Cost Caribbean Escape Potentials Here and Now Gadgets & Power Tools: High-End Roars Seen at the Motivation Show Advertisers Index Off the Cuff

Incentive - October 2008

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