The Power of Choice

October 30, 2009

When creating your rewards and recognition program, not only are enticing program rules going to attract participants, but the choice of rewards plays an even bigger role in increased engagement.  If you are not offering a variety of awards, people may simply not want the award you are offering.

A recent poll completed in the performance improvement industry surveyed more than 1,000 employees about rewards preferences. It turns out there’s a significant gap between what they want and what they’re getting.

Here are some suggestions that grew out of the survey:

1. Give participants the choice. What floats your boat might not float theirs.

2. Place an emphasis on variety.  The poll found two-thirds of employees say that their company needs to offer greater options when it comes to how they reward employees.

3. Make the rewards rewarding. It’s an important factor in retaining excellent employees and for improving performance.  Offer items that have lasting trophy value.

It is so important to provide choice and variety.   Every employee is unique, and one size does not fit all in employee rewards. Provide a selection of rewards to accommodate all employees. At Anderson Performance, we offer over 4500 items in our catalog; well above the industry standard.  Trying to guess what a person will find rewarding is like trying to forecast the weather.

And, people everywhere embrace the opportunity to extend kindness. This trend is especially true with Generation Y; they are civic-minded and socially conscious as individuals, consumers, and employees. This is a true testament of why choice and variety is so important.

Recently, we have added a selection of socially responsible rewards to our offering. These items are unique and creative, and are manufactured by a variety of social enterprises whose sole mission is helping disadvantaged men and women learn new skills, become self-sufficient, and improve their lives. The selection includes gourmet chocolates made by smallholder cocoa producers in West Africa, beautiful jewelry created by mountain villagers of Guatemala, and scented soaps and spa products handcrafted in a transitional job program for at-risk women in Chicago.

What are some unique rewards you have seen?  We would love to hear your feedback.

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Posted by Recognize Right

Transparency is Key to Success

October 26, 2009

This week I wanted to discuss my thoughts about the need for transparency in the workplace. Transparency is one of our core values at Anderson Performance.  A couple of years ago, my company had its first experience with transparency. We decided to make a big change in our technology department and using transparency made for a smooth transition.

You might ask yourself, what is transparency and why is it so important?  According to Business Dictionary.com, the term transparency means the availability of full information required for collaboration, cooperation, and collective decision making. In a nutshell, honesty and openness. 

The Anderson Performance team decided to change our technology with a new platform and infrastructure.  This enabled our clients to have access to a full range of tools and information via filterable reports with the capability of downloading data. At the time, this data was only accessible by our internal IT department. Even a simple data pull was costly for the client.

This change would ultimately benefit our current and future clients by reducing costs and adding the ability to change their platform immediately. Whether it was launching a new incentive or posting a new quiz or survey, the tools were available at any time. But our team was not happy.  They felt our customers did not want a “self-service” tool.  They could see how it would benefit our smaller clients, but felt nothing would change with the larger clients.

Long story short, change started to take place quickly.  Companies took the reins and administered 100% of their programs. We implemented quarterly strategy meetings to look at how they could innovate and improve even more. What happened inside our company was transparency. Showing our employees, from the beginning of the process, the new model and the projections associated with staffing changes was key.  We had open conversation about what our employees really wanted to do and how they should continue to invest in their skills.  We offered assistance to anyone with resume review or training that would expand their skill base.

Using transparency returned a measurable increase in productivity and some very innovative ideas.  Change can be stressful, but properly channeled it can be the stimuli for improvements of all kinds.

What is your organization doing to promote transparency? Are you rewarding individuals who are exhibiting examples of transparency?

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What’s New at the Motivation Show

October 12, 2009

Last week I attended the annual Motivation Show in Chicago. So you might ask, what’s new?  First off, I am truly amazed how the performance improvement industry is growing in this economy.

Many companies (mostly mid size, 4000+ employees) for the first time are seeking a rewards and recognition partner. These companies have been running programs themselves for years. Unfortunately, they never took the time to formalize their recognition efforts, and quite possibly, many programs were running throughout their organization at the same time.   Not only were results improperly tracked, ROI was not on target.  Talk about throwing money out the window! 

While good companies realize the importance of motivated employees, they are also looking for cost savings and value. Organizations are looking at what is being spent annually and are realizing a centralized recognition system would save thousands.  An experienced partner can assist with powerful online reward and recognition tools, allocating funds, budget creation, and ROI tracking.  Check out the 2009 Circle of Excellence Award winners.

Also, a variety of players in the marketplace are morphing and changing.  Many of those who specialize in years of service, travel options or trophies are now expanding their horizons.  Not only are they providing their existing products and services, they are now offering a more complete array of services.  Goes to show this marketplace is changing just like any other industry in this economy. 

Another interesting take away from the show was the huge impact of green and socially responsible award suppliers.  More green and socially responsible “products” are appearing as reward choices.  And the Gen Y group is the number one fan!

If you attended The Motivation Show, I would enjoy hearing your thoughts and feedback.

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Posted by Recognize Right

Selected as “Bakers Dozen” for Fourth Straight Year

October 2, 2009

I am delighted to announce Anderson Performance Improvement has been selected again as one of the “Baker’s Dozen” in the performance improvement industry by HRO Today Magazine. This is our fourth consecutive year to be selected as one of the best incentive and recognition providers!

Each year, as we have receive this honor, it gives me the opportunity to again recognize and thank each one of my staff for the outstanding and innovative energy they put into our company; they are the ones that make the company what it is.  Thank you TEAM!

To make the list, HRO Today explores market trends, examines case studies, and analyzes actual customer feedback collected through an online survey of more than 300 active recognition customers. Then, an overall index is compiled using data ranging from quality of service, scope of service, and size of business relationships to determine the top companies.

I believe there are several reasons why my team at Anderson Performance continues to shine each year in the performance improvement marketplace. 

  1. We work with each of our clients to provide them with the right tools to use recognition with their employees/dealer distributor partners to keep key company strategies and values top of mind. Recognition is so powerful!
  2. We understand there are cultural differences; our awards are culturally appropriate and fulfilled globally.  Our awards are sourced and shipped directly from the country of order origination.
  3. My team understands and focuses on delivering a good Return on Investment for our clients. A rewards and recognition program is an investment and we understand that.  Our process has “checkpoints” throughout the program to ensure maximum ROI. 
  4. We know our audiences! Our award selection is generational appropriate. We have the “right” reward for all generations: Baby Boomer, Gen X and Gen Y.  Choice is the number one motivator! Currently, we have over 4000 items in our online award selection.
  5. Our clients are happy! Our customer feedback is what gets us on this list year after year.

My staff makes offering rewards and recognition simple and easy by using one platform that can do it all.  Our online platform is all encompassing! If you want to run a program for sales, peer-to-peer recognition, or tackle a little of everything, our flexible online tool along with our talented staff can do it.  Take a look at the full story.  I’d love to hear your feedback!

Leave a Comment » | Recognition | Permalink
Posted by Recognize Right