Motivation or Incentive?

Posted by Curt Denevan:

What is the difference between incentive and motivation? An incentive is often an external influence that persuades an individual to act in a certain manner. Sell more goods, get a bonus. This works often with cash bonuses, trips and valued items like an I-Pad.

So what is motivation? Try looking at this as a psychological feature that drives one to act toward certain desired goals. It can be viewed as an internal driver that affects behavior. This is what really pushes someone to achieve great things. Internal motivation can be the strongest factor. Call it internal drive, a burning desire, focused, or any one of those descriptors, it boils down to a driving internal force that compels someone to act in a certain way, to achieve certain accomplishments.

So where does recognition belong in this equation? The most successful awards are a combination of both. A symbolic plaque or freestanding award embraces the external aspect of incentive. As a constant reminder on your employees walls and desks, symbolic recognition is continually enticing them to perform or act in a certain way. Yet, physical awards move a step beyond incentive. When awards are symbolic, they last years after the gift cards, cash bonuses and trips are used. When this occurs, awards become motivation. A displayed award fuels an employee's pride and self worth, speaking to internal psychological senses that drive performance toward goals. It often serves to create office peer pressure, that gives motivation to others that didn't even receive the award.

For more information, contact RCB Awards at 800-929-9110 or visit RCB Awards.

Words for Effective Recognition

Posted by Curt Denevan:

Words have a powerful impact on a recognition presentation. Using the wrong words can often have devastating effects. Using the best words can have a tremendous positive influence. Practice is the best teacher, but perhaps here we can share some ideas.

5 Most Important Words to Always Use:

Results (result, resulting or similar) – “Your persistence in completing this project on time resulted in an immediate re-order by the customer!”  You are demonstrating the correlation between action and the impact of that action. By showing this in a social recognition, peers get boosted by this and learn that their efforts also can be appreciated.

Thanks (thank you) – Too many times a simple recognition moment fails to say “thank you”. It’s pretty basic, but the point is to let the recipient know that you are indebted to them for what they did. “Thank you for your commitment to the new policy, it made a difference here.”

You – Recognition experts describe this as THE most important word to use in a presentation. It makes the recognition personal and relevant, it gets people’s attention. It also forces you to be specific about what you are talking about. “You really did a fantastic job with the Johnson presentation”.

Their Name – Scientific studies demonstrate that when you hear your name, your brain gets focused and attentive. Try to use their name at least 3 times in a recognition presentation. Even better when the name is in the middle of the sentence, as it is less likely to be glossed over.  “The entire management team noticed what you did Sherry, and we are all very appreciative”.

Because – This is one of those words that will have an important point following it, which gives it greater credibility and makes it more powerful. “Tina, because  of the time you spent straightening out that situation, we were able to keep production going and didn’t lose any time”.

What are some other impact words?

Words for Effort
Overcome, succeed, excel, achieve, grasp, generate, develop, design, productive, accomplish, volunteer, produce, discipline, create, resolve, execution, triumph, victory, complete, masterpiece, conquest, initiative, outcome

Words for Quality
Organize, improve, excellence, exceptional, striking, aware, brilliant, elegant, eloquent, intuitive, strong, outstanding, merit, talent, distinction

Words for Attitude
Thoughtful, responsible, creative, energetic, enthusiastic, resourceful, motivated, dedicated, innovative, reliable, vibrant, wise, flexible, versatile, consistent, considerate, commitment, confidence, imagination, passion, tenacity

Words for Leadership
Capable, oversight, vision, navigate, command, conduct, cutting-edge, star, champion, vanguard, role-model, respect, direction, insight, inspiring, admired, courageous, engaging, enterprising, invincible, masterful

Words for Teamwork
Help, support, benefit, advocate, save, encourage, revive, dependable, reliable, prepared, cooperation, advice, fortify, sponsor

These were presented by Darcy Jacobson at Globoforce. For more ideas, go to the RCB Awards Recognition Thesaurus and also check out the Award Text Suggestions - Plaque Wording - Crystal inscriptions.

Cash for Recognition

Posted by Curt Denevan: We've all heard the stories of a Sales Manager that doesn't believe in awards, that he just hands out cash as recognition for achievement. While there is considerable evidence to debunk this line of thinking, the below clip from Jerry Seinfeld says it better than any article out of the Harvard Business Review.

Posted by Curt Denevan:

Interactive Donor Walls bring a whole new dimension to donor recognition.

 
With 25 menus that we can customize, video that is embedded, donor stories, Gifts in Action, Major Donor Profiles and annual donor lists, this dynamic and easy to update system allows the college to have a strong tool in cultivating donors. An interesting attractor loop runs when not in use, and serves to draw interest. Once the interactive screen is touched, it comes alive with the main menu. Working through the information, users find how philanthropy has been an important force, what has been accomplished with these major gifts, and how the college uses the funds. There is even a fun quiz about campus life! A tab for alumni highlights the importance of giving after students leave the college and enter the working world.

The installation is in an old display case. The front is glass, with a film on the inside that is back lit allowing the  campus scene to glow. It's pretty dramatic.

Posted by Curt Denevan:

Awards Capture Attention Over “CASH” Recognition

Companies unsatisfied with performance and that rely on cash alone to reward and incentivize their staff may be interested in a study conducted by Shaffer and Arkes (2009), that found that when people make a hypothetical choice between cash and non-cash incentives, cash is indeed preferred by many employees. However, and here’s the hook, when it’s no longer hypothetical, meaning when an award is identified, employees actually performed better in pursuit of it, even when the award was of equal value to the cash alternative.  As organizations look to do more with less, the argument can be effectively made that introducing a non-cash component to a pay-for-performance scheme may make it more effective and therefor, more efficient than one with an all cash payout.

Today over 83% of firms have some sort of performance based pay in place. While they have bought into the concept, may are still asking if they are getting the rate of return that they anticipated. The satisfaction gap opens a window for award providers to suggest/position non-cash recognition as an alternative incentive.

A study this year by Jeffrey & Adomdza (2011), found that non-cash awards capture employee attention. The authors concluded that employees think more frequently about these awards, even when they are in equal value to cash, and that the increased interest leads to higher performance.

A comparative study published in The Journal of Personal Selling and Sales Management compared cash versus non-cash rewards among 45 insurance agents. The study revealed that travel and entertainment outperformed cash as incentives for agents to acquire new customers.

The conclusion that cash is always more effective simply doesn’t hold up with study after study refuting this notion.  These recent studies show that awards, merchandise and non-cash incentives offer more influence over people and can be more powerful-and more profitable-than cash alternatives.

For more information, contact RCB Awards at www.rcbaward.com. 

Sportsmanship Awards Donated by RCB

Posted by Curt Denevan:

On Wednesday April 18, Curt Denevan of RCB Awards announced that the company, in conjunction with the Journal Sentinel Preps Plus, will donate a Sportsmanship Award to every local high school in southeastern Wisconsin. These awards are meant to highlight in each high school examples of great sportsmanship on the field of play. Too often class athletes are overlooked unless they are the leading scorer. This award allows the athletic director to select the student athlete that demonstrates the true spirit of sportsmanship. 

RCB will also donate Academic Achievement Award to recognize outstanding academic honors. Each high school principal will be asked to determine their criteria for the award. The idea is that there are students who really put in extra effort and succeed. They should be recognized, not just the Valedictorian.

An announcement was sent to each southeastern Wisconsin athletic director and principal this week explaining the program and asking them to select their award recipients.

For additional information on awards for athletic and academic achievement, contact Curt Denevan or visit www.rcbawards.com.  RCB Awards is an award and recognition firm based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin specializing in non-profit and corporate award programs for the last 20 years.

Over Half the Workforce not Satisfied with Recognition

Posted by Curt Denevan:

• 39% of workers don't feel appreciated at work
• 52% are not satisfied with the level of recognition they receive
• 38% are actively looking for a new job

Pretty frightening statistics. These come from a September 2011 Globoforce Work Mood Tracker survey which got input from employed U.S. workers to determine how recognition affects their work. 

If you feel that perhaps you have waited too long to show your employees some appreciation, know this: Even when employees have one foot out the door, 77% of employees dissatisfied with their employer say they would work harder if their efforts were better recognized.

While the solution seems simple, it all starts with the commitment from the top. Is your senior leadership committed to effective employee recognition, or is everyone too busy? Clearly, with these statistics, if you ignore your employees, they'll go away.

For more information on employee recognition programs, see www.rcbawards.com.