Chapter 5 - Mix   MAXIMIZE THE MIX

We’ve already discussed the biggest obstacle to using rewards effectively, which is time—running a program (traditionally a contest) beyond its usefulness. In this chapter, I’ll give you some clues for avoiding the other most common mistake companies make with rewards. It has to do with the mix of compensation, recognition and rewards. A winning team is always considering how to improve performance. The coach’s reputation rides on getting players to run faster, pass farther and hit harder so they can beat the competition. Likewise in business, managers are always trying to find the magic elixir that will move their team toward optimal performance. The usual suspect is cash. Managers and employees alike believe that cash has mysterious motivational powers, although studies show that isn’t necessarily so.

Chapter 6 - Cash Cow   GET THE MOST FOR YOUR MONEY

Since most managers responsible for reward strategies have to cover their bottom—line, that is, I thought I’d focus one chapter on getting the greatest results for your money. The secret, as you can tell by the illustration, is to look for funding in unlikely places. Then, while others are still watching where they step, you can bag up the byproducts of your program (revenue increases, cost savings) and turn them into even more gold. Here’s some fertilizer for thought, in the form of Frequently Asked Questions. Q: My boss says she’s already paying people good money to do their jobs. Why should she reward them for something they should be doing anyway? A: In a perfect world, every employee would be a wild-eyed overachiever. Since we don’t live in a perfect world, the Eighty Percent Club mostly just shows up and gets the job done. Rewards help shift more people into the group of superheroes who are already getting top results. I hope you’ve gotten the point that a behavior-based reward program—or any performance improvement program, for that matter—is a strategic tool.