It seems that your recognition sites have some extrinsic motivators (merchandise, gift cards, etc). Does having the power to choose your reward make these extrinsic motivators just as powerful as the intrinsic motivators? Where do intrinsic and extrinsic motivators align?

There are many ways that intrinsic and extrinsic motivators interleave. In fact, these two align when the employee is recognized and given the autonomy to choose their own reward that is meaningful to them. While the employee may redeem for an extrinsic motivator, like the items I Love Rewards hosts in our online catalog, it is an intrinsic experience. The employee is empowered to choose a reward that is meaningful to them and it is attributed to positive behaviors they exhibited at the company.

I've always thought money was a dis-motivator. More money does not necessarily motivate. It's the lack of money that dis-motivates?

Consider Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs: money is categorized as humans’ base needs. Being paid, and being paid an amount that is appropriate and functional, is fundamental to a human’s need for security, followed by their need for esteem. Money does not drive motivation entirely, but employees must feel fairly compensated so that the idea of money is completely off the table in order for them to focus on creating value. Once compensation is taken care of, it is necessary to practice frequent recognition as a form of validation to create a culture of engagement and performance

How do you balance money factor vs paying according to performance. People with same role but perform at a lower state must earned less than those high performers.

Employees should be offered a competitive salary that aligns with their experience, performance, and current position. If two employees are in the same role and pay bracket, but one outperforms the other, how is this recognized? By implementing a rewards and recognition platform that balances immediate and specific recognition with a degree of monetary rewards, the outperforming employee will earn more. With I Love Rewards’ solution, employees can reward each other with points (a recognition-based currency) that can be redeemed for experiential and tangible rewards in the catalog. Modules such as leaderboards rank employees by different metrics that are important to your company and identify top-performing employees.

The company I work for is all virtual. Employees spread all over the country. How do you drive them without face-to-face time?

Employees should be offered a competitive salary that aligns with their experience, performance, and current position. If two employees are in the same role and pay bracket, but one outperforms the other, how is this recognized? By implementing a rewards and recognition platform that balances immediate and specific recognition with a degree of monetary rewards, the outperforming employee will earn more. With I Love Rewards’ solution, employees can reward each other with points (a recognition-based currency) that can be redeemed for experiential and tangible rewards in the catalog. Modules such as leaderboards rank employees by different metrics that are important to your company and identify top-performing employees.

Is there a good way to motivate employees to take an employee survey?

Motivate employees to participate in surveys by offering some sort of reward for their participation. For example, at I Love Rewards, members who complete surveys are eligible to earn points for their participation. Points are automatically uploaded into users’ accounts and can contribute towards a reward they are saving points to redeem for. Alternatively, motivate employees by telling them that their participation is the only way to impact positive change.

How can you recognize and motivate employees in call centers where opportunities such as travel are not an option?

Not all programs are created equal. The key to creating successful recognition programs is to ensure recognitions given are specific, timely and complimented by a meaningful non-cash item. It is the ability to choose the item that makes the reward more meaningful and consequently reinforces positive work performance. If travel is not an option, you are driving motivation by providing your employees with the ability to choose a reward that can be an option for them. As the intangible is the preferred reward in today’s workforce, try motivating employees with experiential rewards such as dinner, city tours, or excursions. Ultimately, recognition drives motivation more than rewards; identify specific activities employees need to focus on in order to meet organizational objectives, and provide meaningful recognition each time that activity is performed.

How do you get buy-in from the Executive layer of the organization, when they are disengaged and have a sense of entitlement?

Typically, however, no matter who’s the boss, you are bound to run into some resistance sooner or later. And when you do, it will be helpful to know how best to influence senior management to recognize the importance of employee recognition and how they can best support that priority on an ongoing basis. There are many different ways to persuade others and no single “magic bullet” that works for everyone. Here are three suggestions of means to obtain executive buy-in:

• Talking to executives in their own terms. For top management, their language reflects their focus and priorities and typically includes a concern for achieving the organization’s strategic objectives, a cost/benefit analysis of potential management actions, and the financial “bottom line” or profit that is returned to the organization on any financial investment that is made directly via the organization’s budget. Probably the best way to influence top management is to demonstrate the bottom-line (i.e., profit) financial impact that will occur from an increase of recognition in your organization. Emphasize the importance of motivated employees for increasing sales revenue, productivity, quality, safety, customer service or other key performance goals.
• Consider your competitors. You can help bring a sense of relevance and urgency to the topic by citing what your company’s competition is doing on the topic. You can often find out what your competition is doing on this topic by looking at their website and seeing how they are positioning their company as a great place for employees to work.
• Survey your employees; it is critical that you are diligent in quantifying the topic for your organization. Create an index of a core number of questions, which will give you a more robust measure than just a single variable. If it is unclear what the responses mean to your employees, hold one or more focus groups with employees to probe