Employee Motivation

ìYou get what you reward,î says Bob Nelson, Author of 1001 Ways to Reward Employees. Maybe so but motivating employees in recessionary times can be a lot more complicated than the statement above suggests.

Shortsighted employers may think that incentives are less important now than in boom times. The truth is rewards and recognition programs are minefields no matter what the economy. In slow times, however, they may come under more scrutiny both by executives and staff. Along with developing an overall talent strategy, HR may find it convenient to revamp or reinvent its incentive programs during the current lull.

There is little doubt that finding ways to recognize good and excellent performance is critical to making an organization world class at what it does. In the U.S., surveys suggest that at least three out of every four corporations rely on some sort of recognition-based, pay-for-performance program to motivate employees.

Recognition is very important for employee job satisfaction. Results of employee surveys indicate that recognition for a job well done is the top motivator for employee performance (Stuart 1992). A Half International survey reported that 34% of executives cite limited recognition and praise as the single most common reason that employees leave a company (Boyd 1996).

Finding ways to motivate and satisfy employees may, in fact, be crucial to the survival of organizations. A recent British Columbia survey of thousands of workers across Canada revealed that supervisors ranked high wages and job security as the top factors influencing employee motivation. They ranked ìfull appreciation of work doneî as 8th out of a list of 10. Employees, on the other hand, ranked ìfull appreciation of work doneî as number one, and job security and high wages as numbers 4 and 5.

The problem isnít convincing senior executives of the need to motivate employees; the difficulty is in finding something that works. To be effective in motivating employees, incentives should be related to specific behavioral patterns (e.g. better performance), be received immediately after the behavior is displayed, and reward the employee for consistently displaying the desired behavior (Ivancevich and Matteson 1993).

The goals should require some effort to reach. Incentives based on average performance are counterproductive for organizational growth. However, organizations should employ various levels of reward. Small achievements, such as finishing a small project on time and budget, delivering a complex presentation on short notice, etc., should be recognized immediately with rewards commensurate to the achievement.

Publicly praising employees often for their contribution to the organization serves as powerful reinforcement. To be effective, praise must be on target, earned, specific and sincere. A manager must know what, whom, when and where to praise. This forces the manager to keep in touch with what is going on in the organization and is usually a skill that can be learned only with experience.

Organizations should not overlook the power of peer-to-peer recognition programs. Basically, developing an organizational culture that demonstrates caring for fellow workers creates a very strong and loyal workforce. Peer-to-peer recognition will become even more important as corporate structures rely more on self-directed work teams.

According to corporate surveys, typical (though not necessarily best practice) rewards and recognition are for: Years of Service ñ 59% Going ìabove and beyondî ñ 51% Customer Service ñ 41% Cost Savings ñ 39% Increased Productivity ñ 37%

Of course, this is referring to tangible rewards with extrinsic value ñ an ìiffyî proposition at best and something Iíll cover extensively in part two of this series. In general, organizations are much better off figuring out what intrinsically motivates their staff ñ on an individual basis. This requires a lot more work than handing out seats to a ball game or gift certificates for local restaurants.

Intrinsic motivators may come from within but they need to be stimulated and ìmassagedî by competent, hands-on managers. In fact, if an organization has identified budget for a formal rewards and recognition program it should strongly consider spending most or at least some of that money on manager development.

ìThe primary goal of a recognition fund is to express appreciation for the efforts and achievements of employeesî, says Donald Hay of Towers Perrin.1 The objective is to make employees (especially high performers) feel valued and appreciated. The literature demonstrates that recognition limited to a sincere thanks from a respected manager can be as effective as many tangible rewards. The challenge may be to find skilled leaders who have the confidence, knowledge and experience necessary to know when to acknowledge excellence, and how to make it sincere and motivating.

The adage that ìemployees leave managers not companiesî is borne out in exit surveys and other surveys of workers. According to reviews of corporate exit surveys done by Janice Lachance for the Public Personnel Management Journal in 2000, employees ìliked the work and even the pay, they just could no longer stand the way their supervisor failed to involve them or recognize their contributions.

Using Maslowís hierarchy of needs as a simple reference point. If employees are paid fairly, then their basic need is met. With that as a foundation, we can move on to ìhigher needsî such as belief in their work, belief in their ability to make a difference and belief in greater, team oriented objectives.

All of this comes down to motivation. The ability to motivate others is fundamental to excellence in leadership. Motivational skills are, in part, knowing when and how to recognize and reinforce positive behavior. Assuming these skills can be learned, organizations might get the best results by teaching them to managers. If they cannot be learned, the investment might be better spent in figuring out how to recruit and retain managers who already have these skills.

In summary, the experts say that an effective recognition program has seven critical success factors: sincerity, fairness and consistency, timeliness, frequency, flexibility, appropriateness and specificity (Glasscock and Gram 1995). All seven criteria must be met regardless of the vehicle used.Part Two: Why most rewards and recognition programs fail Maximizing the Impact of Recognition, Donald W. Hay, Towers Perrin

Allan Schweyer
aschweyer@hr.com
www.hr.com

Allan Schweyer has been involved in Internet recruiting since 1994 when he pioneered e-recruitment solutions for Human Resources Development Canada. From 1995 to 1999, Allan directed the award-winning National Graduate Register, Campus WorkLink and SkillNet.ca programs with Industry Canada, which introduced the concepts of applicant tracking and advanced screening to job boards and ìcareer networksî to job seekers. In 1999, Allan formed the On-line Recruitersí Association of Canada. In 2000 and 2001, he worked with Cahners Business Information in Boston to build information portals for technical professionals and attended graduate school at Harvard University. Allan currently consults with large organizations on HR strategies and specializes in e-recruitment projects. He is a senior researcher and analyst with HR.com and the guest editor of the HR.com staffing vertical.