Successful Meetings - December 2009 - 19

PLANNER’S WORKSHOP incentive insights Why the carrot-and-stick idiom doesn’t fit the incentive industry Please Skip the Carrots By Jim Dittman he carrot has become the ubiquitous symbol of the incentive industry. We have allowed ourselves to be defined by a vegetable. How did we ever let this happen? The carrot-and-stick idiom puts a farmer on the back of a donkey with a carrot in front of the animal, intended to be the incentive for the donkey to walk. If it doesn’t do the job, the stick works at the other end. To make this scene analogous to the performance improvement profession is to insult practitioners and participants alike. The words and symbols we use when discussing our business both affect and reflect how we feel about what we do and for whom we do it. When we use a symbol like the carrot, we shape others’ perceptions in a way that oversimplifies the nature of the service we provide and understate our importance to the economy. The carrot reduces a complex, powerful, nuanced marketing and human resources strategy to a simple reward-and-punishment tactic. The carrot is a simple idea. A properly designed performance improvement strategy is not, and nor is it a simple process. While it’s not neurosurgery, it does involve thoughtful gap analysis, clear-headed articulation of objectives, identification of key performance indicators, establishment of baseline performance, definition and analysis of ROI and ROO, and translation of all this into a program architecture that T influences behavior toward the objectives. Reward and recognition programs translate corporate values into action plans and move people to live those values and to recognize their teammates who are doing likewise. And the creation of these programs calls for a whole-brain approach with knowledge of human motivation principles as well as persuasive communications and precise math skills. Deliver Emotional Gratification Perhaps the carrot should be replaced with a big smile. Those of us in the performance improvement business 5 have the joyful job of giving people a reason to exceed themselves—to learn and to grow. And when they do, it feeds their self-esteem and produces smiles of satisfaction. We then get to layer more smiles when we deliver lifetime travel memories, brand-name merchandise, personal awards, and, most importantly, the appreciation and recognition intended by the client. Carrots influence short-term behavior. Performance improvement programs effect permanent attitudinal changes that lead to permanent behavioral changes. Values-based programs help both internal and customer-facing employees understand the external brand promise and their roles in delivering it. As we claw our way out of this recession, it is easy to forget the importance of winning the war for talent. We think the best people won’t leave because they’re happy to have a job. But when we return to the traditional 5 percent unemployment level that most economists consider to be full employment, companies that lose sight of the importance of recognition and rewards will be watching people stream for the exits in search of new opportunities. Programs that are based on stimulus response will work for the short term. But the initiatives that truly effect permanent change will be organically grown, taking into account the uniqueness of the company’s workforce and its challenges at hand. And they will touch all the critical points in the value chain. With nary a carrot or stick in sight. SM Jim Dittman is founder and president of Dittman Incentive Marketing in New Brunswick, NJ. He has been president of Site and the Incentive Marketing Associations Performance Improvement Council, a trustee of the Site Foundation, and an advisor to The Motivation Show. For more information, visit www.dittmanincentives.com SuccessfulMeetings.com I December 2009 I SM I 19

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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Successful Meetings - December 2009

Successful Meetings - December 2009
Contents
Editor's Letter
World Travel Market: Short-Term Outlook Still Bleak, Long-Term Still Bright
Food & Beverage
Incentive Insights
Personal Success
Management Matters
Visionaries
Trade Show Report
Sales & Marketing Meetings

Successful Meetings - December 2009