Category Archives: Incentive Plans and Sales Awards
Repost: Are we inadvertently setting up our incentive programs to fail?
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, … Continue reading
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
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 m9-iron. It becomes the only club in their bag.
Therein lies the problem. Continue reading
What was the best incentive program you’ve ever been part of?
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 … Continue reading
Repost: Expanding on Dan Pink – How to Drive Employee Motivation
What I find interesting and a little worrisome, is the idea that many are taking from Dan’s presentation that all incentives (or at least most) are bad. I disagree 100% with that concept. I would like to expand the conversation to explore why. Continue reading
The addicting power of incentives
Paul Hebert, one of the great bloggers out there and generally all around good guy (@incentintel on twitter and www.121-align.com his website) wrote a piece for Fistful of Talent that looked at how incentives release dopamine in the brain – … Continue reading
The lost art of sales incentive communication
“The new compensation plan is only as good as the sales representative’s understanding and acceptance of the plan.”
This quote is from the December 2010 issue of World at Work’s Workspan journal. I found it very familiar as we’ve been using the following line in our proposals since 2003 “You can have the best incentive plan in the world, but it doesn’t make a difference if your people don’t understand it or buy into it.”
I believe this with all my heart. Continue reading
Repost: We are NOT rational beings so why do we try to make rational incentive programs?
What interests me is that we tend to still design are incentive programs and our motivational strategies based on thinking that people are rational. We create programs that have 10 different ways to earn, with multiple components that are designed to drive specific rational behavior, and that use only extrinsic rewards to drive the results. Continue reading
