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On the Edge: Incentive Architects vs. Incentive Builders
January 07, 2009
By Paul Hebert
It's the beginning of 2009. 2008 was a tough year. The news never seemed to be good—except for those of you who own SUVs—gas below $2.00 was pretty special to you all, I'll bet.
The start of a new year is both good and bad. Good because you can start with a blank piece of paper in front of you-nothing to revise, nothing to fix. Bad because you have a blank piece of paper in front of you—nothing to revise, nothing to fix-only something to create.
Design & Build
As you begin 2009, with your blank sheet of paper, you have two choices to make regarding your incentive and reward strategy: You can start from a blank sheet of paper and design exactly what you need, or you can revise an existing program design to get something close.
To me it is very similar to the process you go through when building a house. When building a house, you need to decide what the home will be used for, the number of people living in it, the direction it will face on the lot, how many bedrooms and any special features required to accommodate the occupants. This is the design phase—the realm of the architect. Once the design is complete you will need a builder—someone who can take the design and put the bricks and mortar together, add the beams, joists, walls and all the other necessary components that ultimately become the house. Construction is the realm of the builder.
Incentive Builders
Some homes are designed once and built many times. These "Tract Homes" are much cheaper, but not customized. A lot of neighborhoods are built from a set of four or five basic plans. The buyer picks the plan and the builder puts together the house. Most home owners can get by on the standard set of home designs: Each house will have the basics; each will fulfill most home owner's basic needs. But it is still a "standard" home with little customization for the specific home owners' needs.
Most incentive companies are "Incentive Builders." They have a product or program that they have implemented many, many times—with some success. They have a pretty good idea of how the home will look before they even ask what the home should do or how it will fit the lifestyles of the occupants. In many cases this is acceptable, but not ideal.
Want to increase sales? Run a point program or a group travel program. Need to decrease healthcare costs? Run a wellness program. Need to increase employee engagement? Peer-to-peer is the answer. In other words, many incentive companies have a set of four or five tract homes they can build for you based on some minimal information. But it won't be the ideal program. It won't be custom.
You may be able to customize the solution (within set boundaries)—an added award here, another communication element there, a Web site for standings—but it's really only moving some standard features around to give the program some uniqueness. At the end of the day, it will look pretty much like the program that was implemented last week or last month for a different client with a similar problem.
Incentive Architects
But, if you have unique situations or are looking for detail, originality and customized special features, you'll want to pass by the builders and look to hiring an "Incentive Architect." Architects work from your needs and your vision to create the final product. Just as a home architect, an incentive architect takes into consideration the budget, the materials and supplies available to create the building. Architects have the ability to see things that don't exist, and bring them to life for the client in order to meet their needs exactly.
A good architect knows a lot about the construction end of things and does more than "draw lines on paper." The house a building architect designs is more than a certain look. It is also of a certain quality and demands certain quality in the materials being used, down to the nails. This is no different than your reward and recognition strategy. A good incentive architect takes into account all your needs and desires and creates something unique to your situation with an understanding of what is possible and what can be built and operated.
Incentive architects take the time to really understand your business and the nuances that could affect how a program will be received, how it will operate, what awards (if any) are required to achieve your goals. Many companies find it surprising that a program to achieve their objective could be accomplished without any awards—sometimes you just need to communicate better. Architects know this, and many other ways to achieve your goals.
It's a Team Effort
Which is more important: a builder or an architect? Neither really. They both are critical to create the final product. Without an architect you have no design. Without a builder you have no house. A good architect will make plans that are clear and easy to follow. A good builder knows how to follow architectural plans.
If you want a quality program, you will need a good architect and a good builder. If you want a program that functions exactly like another company's, just hire a builder. If you want a program that fits your needs, your employees, and the way you work, hire an architect first and then a builder.
You need both to get the custom design you want and need. You need both to get a "house" that will work for you individually—that will fit your style, your life your needs.
INCENTIVE online columnist Paul Hebert is currently the Managing Director at i2i, an influence consultancy, (www.i2i-align.com). Over the past 20-plus years, Paul has worked with many Fortune 100 clients to develop non-cash reward and recognition strategies within an overall audience engagement plan. Paul writes a monthly online column for Incentive on incentive industry trends, and he blogs about the incentive industry and how to best engage your target audiences at his own blog, Incentive Intelligence.
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