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Culture Shift: Time-Release Motivators
May 27, 2008
A simple but powerful way to upsize the motivational impact of recognition and incentives—and strengthen cultural alignment while you're at it.
By Paul Levesque
I believe a lot of businesses work harder than necessary on incentives, recognition and morale-building in general. They tend to treat each motivational initiative as a distinct stand-alone event—a specific one-time reaction on management's part to a specific one-time project or achievement on the employees' part. And, as more and more organizations fail to apply a simple but important principle to their efforts, they’re also seeing far less return on their investment than they could be—i.e. costs go up, memorability goes down.
So what's this mysterious principle they're missing? It has to do with, among other things, the concept behind the floral-pattern wallpaper in your grandmother's front parlor or your favorite tune—repetition.
The Staying Power of Repetition
Let me explain: Wallpaper would cost a great deal more—and be much harder to design—if each section of paper contained its own unique design instead of a repeating visual pattern. Similarly, things would be much more difficult for songwriters if every rhythmic passage had to be entirely new and different as the song progressed. Not only would non-repeating wallpaper or music be daunting to create—they'd probably also turn out to be far less popular with the buying public.
The fact is that people find repeating patterns pleasing. And advertisers are no strangers to these repetition tactics. They know they'll score better audience retention by running a single ad 20 times, rather than 20 different ads once each—and incur far less production expense in the process.
Take your cue from the advertisers and songwriters of the world: Don't invent a whole new incentive scheme from scratch every time the occasion calls for it. Instead, create connections and repeating patterns—and watch how overall effort is reduced while overall impact is increased at the same time.
The Missing Link
Just as repetition is the key to successful advertising, it's also the key to creating memorable and effective recognition programs. I'll use a previous example from an earlier "Culture Shift" podcast (A Shortcut to Cultural Alignment). The podcast outlined four steps for jump-starting a cultural shift to greater alignment—which included letting employees come up with their own ideas to improve the customer experience. The example given was that of an employee who had a knack with balloons, and began making balloon animals for the children of customers waiting in line. In that example, appreciative comments from parents became the basis for employee recognition.
Such external recognition can be a powerful one-time motivator. But, if you apply the principle of repetition to this scenario, you can fuel a continuing succession of motivation-boosters. The trick is to make a clear and visible link to a bigger issue: the primary cultural mission, or (to borrow a phrase from an earlier column) the organization's "One Most Important Thing."
Here's an illustration of how this kind of link might be emphasized in a recurring pattern:
Step 1: Continuous customer feedback.
Management incorporates a question about the balloons in its customer surveys or any other relevant measurement mechanism. Samples from this "second wave" of positive feedback are unveiled by management to the entire staff at the next all-hands meeting—but within the larger context of the organization's mission to create competitive advantage through superior customer service. If appropriate, an especially appreciative customer is invited to attend one such meeting in person or to supply comments on a video that is screened at the event. The employee in question ("Lee") is invited to stand and take a bow during every meeting at which the balloons are formally cited as a source of competitive advantage.
Step 2: Create a newsletter feature.
The company then runs a newsletter story about how the balloon-animals idea links directly to the company's focus on delivering a superior customer experience. The story includes comments from delighted customers, and a photo of Lee fashioning a balloon creation. Copies of the newsletter are mailed directly to Lee's children or other family members.
Step 3: Annual service awards.
Lee is one of several winners honored at the company's big splashy annual service awards ceremony, which reinforces how such employee initiatives are helping the business achieve its mission. Members of Lee's family are invited to attend at company expense.
Step 4: Cover service awards in a newsletter.
It's customary for the newsletter that immediately follows the annual service awards to devote much of its space to coverage of the event. A photo of Lee holding the award, flanked by family members and top management, is prominently featured.
These are time-release motivators, each building upon the original employee initiative and reinforcing alignment to the goal of continually improving the customer experience. But the ensuing motivation-boosters do not need to end there. As a Service Award winner, Lee may be eligible for a special parking spot in the company parking lot or other perks. Lee may even be invited to travel at company expense to teach other employees at other company locations the fine art of creative balloon manipulation.
Connecting All the Pieces
When recognition and incentives are connected to each other—and at the same time to the larger organizational objective—it's an effective way to get a lot more for your motivational buck.
 Editor's Note: Are you putting too much effort into incentives and morale building—and getting too little in return? Listen this week's podcast at www.incentivemag.com/cultureshift where Paul Levesque illustrates how to "piggyback" recognition events to create greater motivational impact.
We want to hear your feedback on "Culture Shift" columns! Send comments to stacy.straczynski@nielsen.com to let us know what topics you'd like discussed in upcoming episodes of the "Culture Shift."
INCENTIVE online "Culture Shift" columnist Paul Levesque is the author of five books, including "Customer Service Made Easy" and "Motivation," both from Entrepreneur Press. He's a seminar leader and public speaker with two decades' experience as an international business consultant specializing in the connection between employee motivation and customer satisfaction.
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