Sales Incentive Programs

Recognizing Their Uniqueness

Subject: sales management, sales incentive programs, employee recognition, motivation.

By Victor Antonio

All of us, no matter who you are, want to be recognized for something.  Something special that contributes to creating something greater than ourselves and reflects who we are.  For example,  people who volunteer to join organizations are looking to contribute some of their time and energy into a given endeavor that they perceived as worth their time. These people draw an identity by knowing that they are making a difference and they are contributing to a greater cause...they belong to something special.

In business, people who work are looking for the same type of belonging.  They want to be identified with something. The paradox in business is that we all need to work together for some common goal (growing the company, developing new products or process, implementing a new service and so on), but at the same time we want to be recognized for our individual contribution. 

We want to be recognized for our uniqueness.  Why?  We all believe that whatever we contribute is unique and cannot be duplicated.  We wrap ourselves up in that idea of self-conceit to make us feel better.  We are egoist in the sense that we feel that our contributions are of exceptional importance.  Laurence Peter said “there are two kinds of egoist: Those who admit it and the rest us.” 

Money is a powerful incentive, but so too is recognition.  People respond to recognition, and unlike money, it costs are measured in a whole different way.  Many people who receive awards seem to thrive off being recognized more than they would if they were compensated financially.

Recognition from our peers is the highest form of validation that our work is appreciated. To get paid for accomplishments is monetary validation. To get an award from your company or your peers is to know that your specific efforts as an individual are appreciated.

There are many types of reward that you can give employees to make them feel that their contributions are recognized and matter. When a company is small, being up close and personal is not difficult. The ‘walk-around-by-management’ style is effective. A few words of encouragement here and handshake there and employees know you appreciate them.

But as a company gets large and multiple locations are part of the growing needs of the company, recognition has to be broken into two tiers.  Local recognition by the managers is key to keeping employees content at the local levels.  At the national level, it is important that top executives find creative ways to make their "gratefulness" known.  Having had to implement national reward programs, this is easier said then done.  Here are some ideas:

When it comes to rewards, employers have a license to be as creative as their budgets will allow them to be.  When designing a package one has to consider the shorter and long-term impact of implementing these sort of programs.  This is important especially when the markets shift and the company has to tighten their belt.  Hard times are 'de-motivating' enough; but combine that with having to cancel incentive programs for people working hard is devastating. 

Golden Rule of Incentive Programs: Make sure incentive programs are company performance driven first and employee performance driven second. 

Copyright © 2005 by Victor Antonio   All rights reserved.  This article MAY be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, as long as the author’s name, website and email address are included as part of the article’s body.  All inquiries, including information on electronic licensing, should be directed to Victor Antonio.