Recently I made the point that I am not a big fan of “non-cash rewards” – tee shirts, mugs, parking spots, bagels, and stuff. I like them. In fact I have great Lands End polo shirts from two employers ago! My kids regularly hydrate with water bottles from several employers. What I am not a fan of really, is using them in lieu of good management.
Here is my list of ten things that you should have in the work place before you fire up the silk screen.
- Be an ethical workplace and management team.
- Have integrity – meaning, have a firm hold on reality and run your organization based on what is real (See post on “Integrity“
- Communicate clearly, honestly, often (combine with the next one on the list)
- Show your team respect.
- Hold them to high expectations, articulate them a priori, and help them achieve them. (Note: setting high expectations after the fact, is called “scapegoating”, or being an “A – Hole”.
- Be good at doing the thing that is the reason you exist (making money, making honey, being homey – whatever it is)
- Pay competitively, reward success lavishly. Offer decent benefits (just between us, I know, that you know, that I know, that you and me know more about benefits than employees do – use that knowledge for good not evil) at decent prices including their paycheck deductions and what they take out of their pockets when getting care.
- Say thank you if you mean it. If you don’t mean it, get out of the way and hire a manager between you and them who does (before someone else does it for you. Everybody has a boss, or EFCA.
- Have fun as often as possible. Be angry when it is appropriate. Show compassion and responsibility.
- Cover your expenses and if you are a for-profit company – make money.
If you do not have a decent employment environment your gifts will ring hollow and in the market for employee attention and affection, you will be a loser. Lack of credibility never helps a market player. If you have made the investment to create a great work place, you have conditioned the market. Your brand as an employer in the market (yes, even the internal market place of your organization) will reduce your expenses. The gifts become super symbols of how wonderful you are.
Is this list right? What is your top ten list of things to do before non-cash rewards, or do you think this is nuts and you have the killer top ten list of non-cash rewards.
13 Comments, Comment or Ping
The only thing I would add is: if you are a not-for-profit it is ok if you make money. Get used to the idea that making money is positive, not negative. Use the money for good and not evil and you’re fine.
June 29th, 2008
Pay competitively. Reward success lavishly. That ought to be the lead for a compensation philosophy. I love that. Great list; I like the thinking about doing these things before “firing up the silk screen.”
BTW, I’m still laughing about the definition of setting high expectations after the fact.
June 30th, 2008
Brilliant, as usual.
June 30th, 2008
Thanks Frank – the retroactive expectation is one of my favorites.
You got it HR Wench – some of the not-for-profits that I work with are now really self-sustaining – they are the best. Didn’t mean to imply making money is anything but a beautiful thing. Good catch. Thanks.
June 30th, 2008
This list is great. Having worked at a company whose management considered free doughnuts on Fridays an incentive to putting up with poor treatment the rest of the week. (I also found it a little cruel that we were allowed all the free soda we wanted, but given no dental benefits.) My point is, coming from a company where non-cash rewards were “used in lieu of good management”, I think you hit the nail on the head.
June 30th, 2008
Thanks for the comments Mary. That chew’m while you gott’em (i.e. teeth) irony is compelling.
Also a shout out to Incentive Intelligence noted in the trackbacks today. He took me to task for getting this one not quite right. I kinda blended “gifts” and “rewards”. Although I stand by my post having thought about it for a bit, I do recommend looking there for a different angle.
June 30th, 2008
Frank,
Great job on explaining what an A-hole is. You hit that right on the head.
July 1st, 2008
Yes, trinket oriented, non-cash rewards are typically vapid forms of reward unless they are simply one element of an overall culture of recogntion.
Informal, spontaneous forms of recognition are more powerful than cash or non-cash rewards. Few organizations, other than the old Microsoft (or now Google) can chase people with cash and expect to win the marketplace. Few companies have the financial werewithal needed to bust the competition through compensation only.
robert edward cenek
http://www.cenekreport.com
Uncommon Commentary on the World of Work
July 1st, 2008
Nice post. Your blog and a couple others like it, have a way of keeping things positive and encouraging us all to do what’s right. I appreciate the tenor of your messages and mentioned your blog in my post today for that very reason. Keep up the good work!
July 2nd, 2008
In addition to running my own studio, I have a part-time arrangement with a small ad agency in my area. It’s a place where those ten points are in full swing and run by three partners who have real vision. Sure, I have full health care. But a tee shirt or a mug? No. Nada. Those bastards. [Thanks for the great post!]
July 3rd, 2008
Thanks to the many folks who took the time to read and comment on this post. I appreciate it.
MsInformation – thanks as soon as HumanMarkets get’s a logo mug, one will be on the way to you!
Robert – thanks for your good observation. It is about the whole package – never just compensation.
Chad – this was unfortunately borne from years of emperical study. Thanks.
July 8th, 2008
Reply to “Before The Tee Shirts”