People need to be rewarded

and motivated at the level of

what’s important to them

at the time. 

     There’s an old story about a high-tech company whose people had labored futily to solve a particular manufacturing problem until one tenacious, persistent employee who had worked nights and weekends for a solution, actually produced the evasive answer to the company’s CEO. 

     The boss was so excited, he promptly reached for anything he could find to reward the dedicated employee, and came up with a banana he’d been keeping for lunch in his top drawer! 

     Gold banana lapel pins became the company’s symbol that employees strived to win in the years that followed.  Many millions of dollars in saved productivity costs are the reported result. 

     Now I’m not suggesting you give out bananas instead of cash to deserving employees, but I am saying that small frequent rewards have proven much more effective motivators than salary increases (which of course are permanent) or annual bonuses (or holiday turkeys!) which come to be expected and routine . . . unless, of course, you’re looking for expected, routine performances?  

     Consider that a cash reward means nothing to someone who’s just come into a family inheritance, or whose spouse earns top dollar in her or his job.  A dinner out or theatre tickets will have more meaning . . . or a plaque or certificate of appreciation . . . or free entry in a golf tournament. 

     Great, you say, but how would you know about these things?  AHA! Therin lies the answer.  You, Ms. or Mr. Boss must be a detective! 

     You need to get to know those who work for you well enough to figure out what makes them tick, and reward them at that level. 

• Someone with orthodontic needs for a twelve year-old child will be thrilled at your agreement to pay all costs in excess of insurance coverage. 
• Someone who is constantly reporting late work arrivals because of stalled car starts or flat tires will be highly motivated when good performance is rewarded with payment in full for a year’s worth of car servicing appointments or a set of new tires. 
• Someone who seems constantly afraid of home fires or burglary will find big-time work incentives out of rewards like fire and theft insurance policy payments or a fire/burglar alarm system installation and/or monthly service charge payments.

     People need to be rewarded and motivated at the level of what’s important to them at the time.  To be getting the most out of employee performance efforts, take the time and trouble to discover what’s important to them and respond accordingly. 

     But, be careful about how you say what you say in offering these kinds of rewards so recipients are not embarrassed.  You can still praise in public (criticize in private) by handing someone a “special reward envelope” so that the recipient can elect to explain, or not, to co-workers.    halalpiar

[See July 25, 2008 post –righthand column POST ARCHIVE/July–  “MANAGEMENT BY RUNNING AROUND” reference to Maslow’s Hierarchy as the #1 management theory of motivation]         

   _____________________________________________________ 

BE A CO-AUTHOR!  ENTER YOUR OWN 7-WORDS OR LESS TACK-ON to the “billboard discipline” story started 27 posts ago. The next 7 words could be yours!