Inspiration Conversation

Recently, I was forwarded Dan Pink's talk at the TED Conference in Oxford, England. In the talk, Pink takes on some long standing beliefs regarding "incentives" as positive influencers of employee performance. He makes a strong case that, largely, business practices have ignored the factual findings of contemporary social scientists and that, in most cases, "incentive plans" don't work when targeting knowledge workers. Yet the business community continues the practice of offering "carrots" for higher performance, more ideas and better work. I agree with him, but I'd like to suggest an "and".

Offering knowledge workers more (pay, prestige, power...) for effort beyond their normal level of contribution is a failed strategy and, as companies remove these non-working "motivational tools", they should consider how a well-designed Recognition and Reward System (RRS) might be what they are really looking for. It's a simple case of applying Maslow's thinking to your company's work environment.

If you're providing employees with a compensation plan that solves for the physiological, safety and security needs we all have, you can get more discretionary effort from people by enabling them to fulfill higher needs - belonging, esteem and self-actualization. This doesn't happen by giving them rewards beyond what they've fairly earned within your compensation system - it happens when the organization tells them why what they did matters. Research demonstrates that people will engage at higher levels when they know that their contributions to the overall effort are meaningful and that they are noticed.

Pink focuses on Autonomy, Mastery and Purpose. Perfect ... let people do the work they were hired to do, give them the tools to become expert and then tell them when they contribute to organizational success.

I'm not trying to be overly self-serving here, but an RRS will help you get this done. It's why we are able to feel great about what we do.

In another post, I've talked about Recognition and Reward Systems as Drivers of Employee Engagement.

An "engaged employee" does two things very well - they produce a high volume of high quality work and they help create change. The quality and volume of work is a result of a focus on the present and an understanding of the actions that lead to their work success and the success of the company. The ability to create change is driven by the awareness of all the components that make up their work and their willingness to challenge the status quo when they see an opportunity to do things better. An engaged employee "owns" their work and may regularly contribute beyond their exact job description.

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