motivation | Behavior Matters! - Part 3

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Repost: Are we inadvertently setting up our incentive programs to fail?

On July 11, 2011

In Communications, Incentive Compensation, Incentive Plans and Sales Awards, Motivation, Uncategorized

goal

Do we dream too much about our goals?

A recent post on PsyBlog outlines the distinct difference in performance between people who “fantasize” about future success and those who “expect” future success.  The blog article was based on research by Oettingen and Mayer (2002) in which they concluded, “Positive expectations (judging a desired future as likely) predicted high effort and successful performance, but the reverse was true for positive fantasies (experiencing one’s thoughts and mental images about a desired future positively).”

The PsyBlog article explains the difference between expectations and fantasies as follows: “Expectations are based on past experiences. You expect to do well in an exam because you’ve done well in previous exams, you expect to meet another partner because you managed to meet your last partner, and so on” while “fantasies, though, involve imagining something you hope will happen in the future, but experiencing it right now.”  The difference might seem small, but in fact, had a big difference in outcome.  People who had high expectations about finding a job did much better in actually finding a job than those who just fantasized about finding a job.  See more results here.

Which leads us to our potential problem with incentive programs.

Do we end up communicating to everyone that they can achieve the highest payout or reward?  If we do, then does that lead to fantasizing about the reward instead of expecting the reward?  I’m not sure.

On one hand, I know that in the communication work that we do, we typically use examples and highlight top earners – the ones who achieve in the top 10% of participants.  How does that communication play with the 50% of participants who are in the bottom half of earnings and probably will not achieve that level of success?   We show pictures of what people can buy with their earnings – a new boat, travel to a tropical island, new coach bags, a 62 inch t.v.  Are we inadvertently leading these people to fantasize about what they can do with that extra $20,000 when they don’t have the history to expect that they’ll ever earn it?

Companies often use annual reward trips, short-term contests or non-cash incentives that reward the top 5% or 10% of performers – do these by their nature create a split between those who expect to earn them and those that just fantasize about earning them?   Does this then lead to poorer performance by those who just fantasize about winning them with no real expectation of actually winning?

This is just one study, but it resonates with other information on this subject from Locke and Lathum; Badovick, Hadaway, & Kaminski; and Bandura to name a few.   So what does it all mean?

Are there solutions for this besides just chucking the entire incentive system out the door?

Of course.  When we take a holistic approach and think about this differently.

A few ideas that would help include:

  • When communicating incentive plans, make sure that you provide examples of what average performers can earn as well as top performers.
  • Highlight realistic increases in performance when using now and then comparisons – don’t make the growth so great that it seems unrealistic.
  • Communicate specific actions that people can do to achieve the desired performance level.
  • Make sure that you have opportunities for people to earn something at various levels of overall performance.  Don’t just reward the top 10%.   Hang a carrot out there for people in the bottom 50%.
  • Utilize tiers when creating contests or incentives if there are large differences in average territory size / market share / potential.
  • Include different measures – not just top line sales (e.g., % growth, new account growth, market share, etc).
  • Offer opportunity for sales people to self-select their goals (within specific guidelines) and provide different rewards for them based on the goal they pick.  For instance, you could say, if you pick a 3% growth goal you earn $X, if you pick a 5% growth goal you earn $XX, and if you pick a 8% growth goal you earn $XXXX.

While we all like to dream, we might need to ensure that our incentive programs offer a little more grounding.

So what do you think – is this all just ivory tower research that has no application in the real world, or is it something that we need to take into consideration?  Let us know your thoughts and leave a comment.

Four Drive Model Research Findings

On July 8, 2011

In Four Drive Theory, Uncategorized

Many of you have read the guest post by Kristen Swadley where she reviews her research on the 4-Drive Model.  Here is her Senior Honors Thesis presentation which goes into the details of her study and provides a wonderful overview of what her research uncovered.

Kristen Swadley – Senior Honors Thesis Presentation – Spring 2011 from MSSU Honors on Vimeo.

http://www.vimeo.com/23706400

 

Enjoy

Imaginary monsters are still scary

On June 26, 2011

In Communications, Employee Motivation, Leadership, Uncategorized

My 5-year old son is starting to become afraid of “monsters” in our house.  This has not been a problem until just a few days ago – but now he is reluctant to go anywhere in the house alone.   It culminated last night, when he wanted a specific book read to him before going to bed.  That book was located in our 3rd floor attic bedroom.  We were on the 2nd floor when the 5-year old requested this book.

“Ok. Go get it and I’ll read it to you” I said.

“I can’t” he said very quickly.

“Why not?  Do your legs not work?” I asked teasingly.

“I’m scared – I don’t like being alone” he replied seriously.

“But I’m right here and you just have to go up the stairs that are right over there” I said pointing to the stairs just 20 feet away.

“Can you come with me?”

“No – I’m right here and you’ll be fine.”

“But I need you to come with me.”

After 10-minutes of this back and forth conversation that included discussions on what type of monster it was, the fact that monsters were imaginary, and the fact that  he would be no more than 50 feet away from me at any point in his under 60-second journey and within easy calling distance, he was still firmly planted on the couch not willing to go get the book by himself.  I even tried my best motivation and psychology tactics to get him to go up by himself (incentives, peer pressure, challenge, etc..) – to no avail.  Then he said this most insightful statement:

“Just because its imaginary doesn’t mean that I’m still not scared.”

Wow…that’s when it hit me, I wouldn’t be able to rationally talk him into going upstairs to get the book.  No matter how many facts we agreed on.  No matter how well reasoned my arguments were.  No matter how simple the solution was.  He was going to still be scared.

I needed to respond to him on an emotional level.  I needed to make him “feel” safe.  I needed to hold his hand or walk halfway up the attic stairs or go up first and clear the attic of any monsters before he was ever going to go up in the attic alone.

Imaginary Monsters

And sometimes we and our employees are the same way.  We make up monsters.

We extrapolate all the bad things that could happen and they get blown out of proportion.  We understand all the rational discourse on why the company needs to change, but in our guts we are scared by that.  We get caught up in the emotion of how we feel about what somebody said to us and not about what they actually said or meant.  We spin our wheels in the mud worrying about not getting a project done instead of just working on it.

And no matter how rationale the argument is against this imaginary thing – we are still scared.  When people are scared – we don’t work well.  We don’t go up the stairs to get the book.  Instead we sit in our cubes and wait.  We spread rumors and try to get others to believe in our imaginary monsters too.  We worry and fret and stress.

Our brains trick us because we are not rational beings. 

We are emotional beings.  Our imaginary fears and worries are not going to dissipate with rational discourse or well reasoned arguments or even facts.  Sometimes the only way over it is to have someone figuratively hold our hand, or walk halfway up the stairs or go chase out all the monsters first.

Too often as leaders we miss this fact!

The Not So Shining Knight

As leaders we want to be the shining knight that comes in and vanquishes all the monsters.  So what do we do – we focus on the facts.  We layout well reasoned arguments.  We rationally explain away all the potential downfalls.

Our communications highlight all the great benefits of the new program – but don’t address the emotional side of things.  We discuss program rules and miss out on leading people through an example of what it is going to be like.  We provide all the facts on a new change initiative but don’t go out and show them how we have to change as well.

We don’t bring in the human side of things.

We need to get better at holding hands. We need to work on our empathy.  Communication, no matter how good, won’t solve all our problems.  As leaders, we need to lead.  We need to go up the stairs first.  We need to put skin in the game. We need to feel the pain too.

We can’t always talk people out of being scared – even when they are scared about imaginary monsters.  As a leader it is not about being right or getting the facts straight.  It is about emphasizing with what your team is going through and being there for them.  It means that we have to start thinking and acting with our more with our heart and less with our head.

That’s what makes great leaders.

Let us know what type of imaginary monsters you face…leave a comment.

How using a 9-iron isn’t the answer to a 540 yard par 5 – just like incentives aren’t the only answer to employee motivation

On June 19, 2011

In Employee Motivation, Incentive Compensation, Incentive Plans and Sales Awards, Leadership, Motivation, Uncategorized

The Approach

A few weeks ago a number of factors all convened so that I spent 5 days playing 99 holes of golf (see here).  It was fun, but I’m ok if I don’t hold a golf club in my hands for a little while.

Let’s preface by stating that I’m not an avid golfer nor am I a very good golfer.  I’m average.  I usually get out 3 to 4 times a year.  I can talk the talk, I do some things well, and others not so well.  One of the things that I was doing well during those five days was hitting my 9-iron.

And I was hitting it well.

On a pretty consistent basis I was hitting the ball between 140 and 170 yards with my 9-iron – and they were mostly straight (which is a big deal for me).  And once* I put one out there about 185 yards (*it was downhill and the wind was behind me).  Put this in perspective, according to Brent Kelly at About.com the average men’s 9-iron distance is between 95 and 135 yards.  You would need to move up to a 5-iron to reach the average distance I was getting with my nine.

Of course I was hitting most of my other clubs poorly.  I’d top my driver and it would bounce out 30 yards.  I’d slice my 3-iron into the trees.  I’d hit my five iron, but it would fade left and only go about 100 yards.  I’d totally duff my 3-wood.

So what did I do?

I ended up just playing with my 9-iron and putter.  Honestly.  It didn’t matter if it was a par 3 140 yard hole or if it was a monster 540 par 5 – I’d pull out my 9-iron and shoot.

And you know what…I played better than I usually do.  We used many of my shots in the scramble competition.  I won my head to head match.  Overall, I did pretty well using just my 9-iron.

Therein lies the problem…

I did pretty well for me – but I definitely wasn’t one of the top golfers playing.  Sure I did better than I usually do, but I know that using my 9-iron on a long par 5 is not the optimum solution.  Yes it improved my game – but I wasn’t going to be able to match the top golfers I was playing with if I only used two clubs.

I often see companies that use incentives like I use my 9-iron.  It becomes the only club in their bag.

Therein lies the problem. 

We find that we have some success with an incentive program/reward program/new initiative and we think, “hey, we’re doing pretty good here.”  Then we use the same thing again and again – regardless of the issue we are trying to address.  The problem is that using that approach, we will never be at the top of our game.  We will never be able to fully motivate and engage our employees.  We will get to the equivalent  of a 540 yard hole, which requires a creative new approach – and we pull out the “9-iron incentive” instead because, hey, “I can hit it 170 yards.”  But that probably won’t ever get you a par.  And it certainly won’t get you an eagle.

There are a number of clubs that we have to use to help drive motivation.  We need to engage people with challenging jobs, build great interpersonal connections, create a culture that people are proud of, make sure that people have opportunities to grow and excel.    But these are all harder to master, take longer to build, and have a higher probability of a major slice or hook – so we too often just fall back on the old faithful 9-iron incentive plan.

The Driving Range

So I need to go out to the driving range and start working on my other clubs – maybe starting with the 8-iron and moving down the line**.  That is the only way that I will ever improve my game and become a “good” golfer. 

The only way a company will ever become really good at motivating its employees is to start developing their skills with other methods of engagement besides incentives.

We can look at the 4-Drive Model of Employee Motivation and know that we have to engage people in bonding, learning and defending as well as in acquiring.

Get out on the proverbial driving range and see what works for you.  Add a little more job rotation.  Change the goal setting system.  Maybe some more team building.  How about a more open and communicative culture.  It takes practice.  It takes time.  There will be a few shots that go in the water…but in the end, its what is required to become a scratch golfer or a great company!

(**Of course, I think I’ll take a few more weeks off from golf to fully recover…I mean 99 holes in 5 days is a lot!)

Let us know what your favorite club is – leave a comment!

Change Anything

On June 14, 2011

In Employee Motivation, Motivation, Uncategorized

I just got back from a presentation by Al Switzler, one of the authors of “Crucial Conversations”, “Crucial Confrontations”, and “Influencer” and now “Change Anything: The New Science of Personal Success.” I have to say, I was impressed (and that usually doesn’t happen with presentations).

While I have not yet read the book, the information presented today was very thought provoking and more importantly, actionable. This is not always the case with business or personal help books. The concepts and ideas that Switzler discussed were real and I could see how they applied.

A few key ideas from the presentation:

“Lots of people do research about people, but almost nobody does research about you. You need to be come both the scientist and the subject.” Think about it, you are rarely the subject of a research experiment and even then you would probably be one of many. This idea is simple – look at your life with the eye of a researcher – what works for you, how do you behave in these situations, what motivates you? Then be the subject of your own experiments – try different things to see what makes a difference for you.

“Do you pass the commitment test. You need to be able to vividly and passionately articulate why you want to change. If you can’t do that, change will most likely not happen.” In other words, we need to make it real to ourselves both cognitively and emotionally. The words we use to explain why we need to change need to be “vivid” and we need to talk about them “passionately.”

“We often think of failure to change as a lack of willpower. It really has many more facets than that.” Switzler explains that they found six sources of influence that impact the likelihood that change will occur. These are:

  • Personal Motivation (i.e., our will – what we want and how badly we want it),
  •  Personal Ability (i.e., the tools and skills we have to acheive our desires),
  • Social Motivation (i.e., the influence that those close around us have on our behavior),
  • Social Ability (i.e., do those people close to us act as enablers of good or bad behavior),
  • Structural Motivation (i.e., the influence that structural factors play on our behavior),
  • Structural Ability (i.e., how well you control your environment to help you achieve your goals).

I am looking forward to reading the book and giving you an update when I’m done….

Implications of 4-Drive Research: Guest Blog by Kristen Swadley

On May 20, 2011

In Employee Motivation, Four Drive Theory, Uncategorized

Guest blog by Kristen Swadley

Four Drive Theory of Employee Motivation

According to the Four-Drive Model the drives to acquire, bond, comprehend, and defend motivate every human being and should all be addressed in the workplace. However, it is critical for managers and leaders to recognize that employees are motivated by the four drives at differing levels. My recent study, which is discussed in the post “New Research on The Four-Drive Theory of Employee Motivation”, revealed that a person’s demographic background effects which of the drives he or she values the most.

This information could have three potentially significant effects on the way managers implement the Four-Drive Model of motivation.

First, managers can use the results from the study to fine-tune motivation techniques in order to best fit the strongest drives of each employee. Workers should be tested to determine which of the drives is most motivating on down to which provides the least motivation. This will allow managers to not only implement all four drives, but to build custom motivation plans based on what drives the employee the most.

Second, managers can find ways to fulfill each of the drives in order to increase motivation. For example, employees who had sought higher education valued the drive to comprehend more than those who had not obtained a college degree. Managers can make note of employees with higher educational levels and ensure that they are given ample opportunity to express ideas, problem-solve, and engage in challenging and meaningful work. Those with a strong drive to acquire should be given recognition and opportunity for advancement. Employees with a strong drive to bond need opportunities to work in teams and collaborate with coworkers, while those with a strong drive to defend need to see fairness and just processes in the workplace. Research has shown that increasing fulfillment in all four drives leads to much higher motivation in the workplace, but if that is focused specifically to what drives the employee the most without disregarding the other three drives, I believe this would have additional positive impacts on motivation.

Finally, managers should have some way to assess employees in relation to how they perceive that each drive is being fulfilled and they are being given enough opportunities to excel in those areas that most strongly motivate them to go the extra mile. Whether through employee questionnaires or informal meetings, it is a critical step to get feedback from employees so that any necessary changes can be made to further increase motivation in the workplace.

Feel free to comment with any questions or feedback.

Author info:

Ms. Swadley recently completed her thesis titled:  Managing Motivation in the Workplace: A Demographic Dissection of the Four Drive Theory.   She is currently at Missouri Southern State University.  This article is based on the research that she completed in her thesis. 

New Research on The Four Drive Theory of Employee Motivation

On May 12, 2011

In Employee Motivation, Four Drive Theory, Motivation, Uncategorized

Rising arrow 2011Our knowledge of the Four-Drive Model of Employee Motivation is constantly being expanded as researchers study it and organizations work with it.  This is exciting because it allows us to use this theory more effectively to drive performance and increase employees motivation.

Recently I have been in contact with Kristen Swadley, a student at Missouri Southern State University.  Ms. Swadley has added to our understanding of Four-Drive Model by conducting research to see if demographic differences such as age, gender, marital status, tenure, income,  job role, or education level impact any of the four drives.  Analyzing data from 315 surveys, Ms. Swadley found some interesting findings that point to both the robustness of the Four-Drive Model as well as how specific demographics correlate to some of the drives.

The following information is from the thesis she completed around this study:

Regarding gender the analysis showed that there was no difference between males and females in their tendency towards a particular drive.  Thus the four-drive model does not have a gender bias.

However, there was a relationship between the age of respondents and the drive to defend – older participants (over age 41) showed a higher correlation with the drive than the younger age (under 25).

The drive to defend was also found to be higher in married and divorced participants compared to those who listed their status as single.

Tenure showed a correlation only with the drive to bond where unemployed individuals rated that drive significantly less than those who were employed (specifically, those employed for 0-3 years and over 12 years – which is an interesting fact in itself).

Income levels showed a correlation between both the drive to bond and the drive to comprehend.  Those individuals who earned under $19,999 placed a significantly lower value on both these drives than those in the higher earning brackets.

There was a difference in the drive to comprehend between various work roles.  Specifically, there was a difference in how both middle management and trained and professionals viewed that drive compared to skilled labor  (with middle management and trained professionals placing a much higher significance on it).

Unsurprisingly, educational level also showed a correlation with the drive to comprehend, with those participants who had achieved a graduate degree valuing this drive much more than those with just a high-school degree or some college.

This information helps us as leaders start to understand how we can better use the levers we have to motivate our employees.  Ms. Swadley puts it best when she says, “While it is true by the tenets of the Four Drive Theory that all humans are motivated in some way by the four basic drives, it is important to take into account that all employees are motivated by the four drives at differing levels. A manager with the intention of implementing the Four Drive Theory in the workplace should have employees tested to find out which of the drives are most important to the individual on down to which of the drives provides the least amount of motivation.”

We hope to have Ms. Swadley right a guest post in the upcoming weeks to explore a little deeper what her findings mean for managers and leaders – until then, please let us know what you think by leaving a comment.  Thanks!

Some fun motivational images – enjoy!

On May 11, 2011

In Employee Motivation, Uncategorized

www.slideshare.net/kurtnelson/fun-motivational-sayings-and-visuals

“We are human beings, not machines”

On May 3, 2011

In Employee Motivation, Leadership, Motivation, Uncategorized

I just read a blog post by Michael Lee Stallard entitled “Should Leaders Care About Employee Happiness?” in which he talks about how happiness is important to business and how organizations need both “task” and “relationship” excellence.  What struck me hard however, were two simple sentences he wrote:

“We are human beings, not machines.  Emotion matters, even in business.”

How very, very true.  “Emotion matters, even in business.”

This should be a no brainer.  We shouldn’t even need to bring this up and yet we do need to bring it up because leaders often forget this.  We lead like our employees are parts of a big organizational machine and if we just push and pull the right levers, we will get the desired output.  We build systems looking for optimal performance and use incentives as if they were the gasoline that runs our engines.

We forget that “we are human beings, not machines.”  And as Dan Ariely points out, we are “irrational” human beings.

We need to stop thinking about business as a machine, and think about it more as a volunteer service club.  Imagine you are the president of a Rotary Club and you need to get your club members to work on a project.  You don’t offer them an incentive.  You don’t command that they give up their Saturday to build a music park in North East Minneapolis or spend two years working to build a high school in Haiti (FYI – our Rotary Club did both of these – see here).  You don’t give them new computerized systems that churn out delivery plans.  You can’t.  Service clubs don’t work that way…

What you do is you appeal to their “humanness” and their “emotion.” 

  • You tap into their drive to want to make a difference.
  • Ensure that they feel that they are being challenged and give them an opportunity to grow.
  • You make sure that they have friends in the club that they bond with so they can work on the projects together.
  • You make the work as fun as you can.
  • You focus on the good that you are doing in the community and the world.
  • You appeal to people’s pride in what they can bring to the table for this project.
  • You connect them to others with similar interests.
  • You give them opportunities to develop and lead.
  • You support them when they run into problems.
  • You recognize their success and hard work.
  • You celebrate success!

Yes, if you want to be an effective leader, you definitely need to focus on the very human side of things.  Remember “We are human beings, not machines.  Emotions matter, even in business.”

Would love your human thoughts on this – click on “leave a comment” below

What was the best incentive program you’ve ever been part of?

On May 2, 2011

In Employee Motivation, Incentive Compensation, Incentive Plans and Sales Awards, Leadership, Motivation, Uncategorized

We’d like to know what you think was the best incentive program that you’ve ever been a part of – either as a participant, a designer, consultant or manager.

  • What was “it” that made the program stand out for you and make it special?
  • How was it different?
  • What did it do?

Leave a comment and let us know…just click below on “leave a comment”

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