Inspiration Conversation

I’m an unapologetic fan of using Abraham Maslow’s well known “Hierarchy of Needs” as a tool to explain and position why Recognition and Reward Systems are valuable.  Are there other theories and models that can apply as well?  Absolutely … but here’s why I’ll stick with Maslow:

In broad strokes, Maslow says that individuals deal with life by meeting needs in this order 

1. Physical (“Am I safe and do I have something to eat and a place to sleep?”)
2. Social (“Do I have friends I can talk to and spend time with?”)
3. Esteem (“Do other people notice when I do something good?”) and
4. Self Actualization (“Do I matter?”)

He states that the higher level needs cannot be met unless the lower level needs are met first.  A mental walk through history will provide example after example of how this looks in real life (for an expanded explanation of how this translates to the work place, read more about Employee Engagement).  Can someone regress “down the pyramid”?  Sure – when people go through difficult financial times, they become more concerned about physical needs, they have less time for social occasions and fewer thoughts regarding self esteem – they’re focused on meeting basic needs.

All this matters to people responsible for organizational “people issues” because it’s a good template to use to understand and implement recognition and reward strategies.  If you think about what individuals are trying to get done with their life, and then use the tools at hand in your work environment to advance their cause, the people in your company will stay longer and they will contribute more.    

A RRS is designed to contribute to organizational success by driving the behaviors and performances valued by the organization.  An RRS accomplishes this by appealing to the individual needs that employees have for an understanding of where they fit and how they are valued. 

Read the previous two sentences a few more times…

Now, consider the size of the organization you work for.  Imagine that your job was to determine the individual needs of each of the employees that work for your organization and to create a method:

• To determine if those needs were being met
• What the employee thought about how the needs were met
• When an employee’s thinking/needs changes or they have a bad day (or bad month)

How you will track that and adjust for their changing needs?

Do you really want that job?

Is it really possible to perform that job, particularly in an organization with more than a few dozen people in it?  I don’t think it’s an achievable goal and that’s why a RRS is valuable.

I believe that the highest and best use of an RRS is the communication of organizational culture and behaviors to the employees of the organization.  Of the other ways to communicate – internal communications, intranet, newsletters, the water cooler, etc – a systematic approach to recognition and reward is the best method to determine the degree to which employees hear the message and, more importantly, what they think about the message. 

2 + 2 = 4. Always. 

But there are plenty of things that call for a nuanced decision making process and non-linear thinking. Oftentimes, there are multiple ways to address a given issue and many of them are “correct”. Paying taxes and picking paint colors for example, and I’d add designing & operating Reward and Recognition Systems (RRS) to the list.

I do my level best to pay the IRS exactly what I owe.  I keep diligent records and use a very good CPA, and yet, I’m not 100% positive the final number is correct. There are just so many options and so many gray areas regarding the specifics.  Common sense says it’s simple – you just follow the rules and punch the correct buttons on the calculator – but we’ve all heard the stories about tax pros looking at the same return with wildly different conclusions.

We are doing some decorating around our house. Ok, my wife is doing some decorating around the house, and she came home with five color swatches for a paint color she’s considering for the legs of a table.  All five swatches are black.  Yep – five different shades of “black”.  Which one is correct (I picked the one she liked, but THAT lessons got nothing to do with this post)?  There seem to be multiple shades of a color that I thought was pretty simple to describe.

So maybe you’re redecorating your people strategy or trying to figure out what rules to follow to create your RRS.  In my experience, there are a few “2 + 2” facts to keep in mind: 

• Know what result you’re trying to achieve.  These can be strategic (become the best employer in our region) or tactical (increase sales by 15%).
• Follow a process.  At The Miller Company, we use Recognition Professionals International’s Seven Best Practice Standards (www.recognition.org)
• Involve senior management.  Help them understand how the RRS will drive corporate goals and tell them what they can do to help the effort.

Building an RRS involves a little science and a little art. Get the science right, then enjoy the creative process of choosing the “colors” that work best for your organization.

"Universally we all have the same human foundation. Each of us is shaped slightly by our environment and culture, but we are more alike than different. I experienced it in the business workshops, as the Afghan personalities sorted out just like they did with a group of 30 Texans in March. I experienced it as I heard fathers and grandfathers share dreams of education, peace, and prosperity for their children. I experienced it as I sat with American military leaders who desperately want to make a difference for their sacrifice, while longing for home at the same time."

If you're reading this blog, some of your work involves employee engagement, employee retention or the work of developing and operating employee recognition and reward systems. Ross' words, particularly the phrase, "we are more alike than different", resonated with me in that, our work is very much about helping companies find and express the pieces of their DNA that can become the "common cause" for employees.

Where can your company find the place where your employees can be "more alike than different"? What would happen to your organization if you began to tease out the common behaviors that, when performed, would allow all employees an opportunity to be celebrated for their respective contributions?