Top leaders are tuning into their workforce vital signs and are taking the pulse in an attempt to ascertain their employees’ values as companies try to design rewards that infuse meaning and integrate the business strategy.  The old laundry list reward system which gave little regard to investment and the alignment of the diverse needs of the workforce are in the past. Competition in the next era requires the skillful art of blending talent, culture and rewards to create a sustainable brand. Strengthening the newly created brand will become one of the top responsibilities of 21^st Century Leaders moving forward.

Financial Security  

Experienced leaders know that money serves as a powerful motivator (temporary) for employees and that ensuring fair compensation is critical to meeting their base needs. However money is not an end onto itself but rather serves as a means of sustaining or acquiring something that people care about. Make no mistake money is intended to meet the financial security needs of employees and will remain a critical element in designing competitive rewards as we press forward.  Since money is not the end all leaders need to determine what employees really care about and become better positioned in helping managers meet those needs. For many organizations getting compensation and rewards right is no longer optional. As leaders, we know the challenges of limited funding and risks associated with losing key individuals or failing to earn the support during times of corporate change, but top leaders are opening the doors to integrating strategies that can significantly impact execution on key strategic initiatives.

Management must consider more frequent compensation reviews to benchmark their market competitiveness to stay ahead of the competition and retain pivotal talent and high potential employees, especially in information technology.  As market conditions shift staying proactive will help to ensure that your talent feels valued for the critical skills and expertise they bring to your organization.

Top leaders resist the temptation of referring to a laundry list of ideas and implementing them as a reactionto low morale. Research has discovered that giving in to such temptation proves ineffective in producing long term performance gains.  Top leaders who resist such quick fixes pave a roadmap that infuses their people and motivates them toward achieving higher levels of performance, thereby creating alignment of investments to the business. These leaders recognize that acquiring and retaining talent by finding good people and just keeping them happy is no longer a sustainable strategy in today’s dynamic business environment.

Research findings and surveys reveal that today’s employees feel more responsible than ever to manage their careers and retirement and are more likely to consider job offers that address key needs as the economy advances. Employees are measuring their return on investment and in ways managers may not be expecting. By designing and adapting a pro-active rewards strategy, leading managers can boost performance without breaking the bank.

In this briefing we’ll explore additional offerings that can help you build a sustainable reward strategy that your employees will love.  First, let’s take a look at what’s changed in the area of rewards.

Rewards Context

During the past several years rewards and recognition have undergone a series of changes as the context for total rewards has broadened due to a number of critical drivers including workforce demographics, reform, and globalization. How organizations create value and reward behavior will change as companies fundamentally rethink compensation to lead the future.

What are Total Rewards?

Beyond incentives, a total rewards game plan includes minimally five core elements: Compensation (all forms, incentive, global remuneration, etc.), Benefits, Work-Life, Performance and Rewards, as well as Development and Career Opportunities. These are not to be all inclusive of formal and informal rewards keeping in mind that parts of these elements may be decentralized depending upon the size of the organization.

In order to maintain the right blend of critical skills empowered managers can compare rewards and recognition to an analogy of a race car. Racing teams compete to gain pole position and prepare in advance for an upcoming racing season by placing top priority on resources, tools, materials, and sponsorship (funding) needed to meet desired outcomes while continuously running through scenarios for specific events. The high-performance engine design keeps the car running and fuels the racing team with a distinct competitive edge.

The high-performance engine needs calibrated adjustments to keep it revved up yet if the pit crew neglects ongoing maintenance, does not account for a shift in weather conditions, or omits steps in the post-race evaluation fans will watch a supercharged race car with great potential decelerate. The end result being one dynamic investment off course, on the side of the road, with a stadium full of dissatisfied fans on race day.

When it comes to calibrating and boosting rewards 21^st Century leaders might consider how these shifts impact their roles between manager vs. leader moving forward. For example, empowered managers need to become more familiar with key motivational drivers among individual employees and across the enterprise. They must learn to shift modes between simply administering rewards to delivering meaningful personal recognition that meets the needs of individuals. 21^st Century Leaders integrate rewards with other elements that build value and meaning for the team thereby demonstrating fiscal discipline and driving business execution.

The Good News

Top managers who are concerned with adding another task to an already full plate, now have reason to celebrate. There are a number of approaches you can consider implementing to assist you in releasing control and motivating employees to excel in executing organizational goals.

Below are six practical approaches toward releasing control and boosting rewards:

1. People First. Taking a sincere effort to strengthen relationships with employees demonstrates respect and builds trust. Rewards that fall into the vending machine category; pressing this button to receive a desired output limits the organization’s potential in optimizing the rich diversity of thought, motivation, ambition and drive that employees are ready to extend.  Therefore, resist the off-the-shelf and transactional approach and schedule time to discover what your employee’s care about. Top organizations who outperform and lead the competition know that there are no short-cuts to building high-quality relationships and higher ROI with their workforce. Consider a once a month lunch rotation in the cafeteria with a cross-section of a few leaders. Rather than a town hall format that offers more scripted conversation, encourage your employees to sign-up (volunteer ahead of time) along with their brown-bag to share in industry conversation or fun technologies and request their perspectives. Ensure that there is no formal or hidden agenda. Simply provide an unfiltered opportunity for two-way dialogue and listen to the ideas of employees and their visions for the future. By soliciting feedback from your employees and resisting an off-the-shelf approach, you’re better able to personalize the commitment to your employees and the organization’s brand while strengthening team relations and spending less time having to react to issues.
2. Goal Setting. Resist the temptation to dictate three to five goals for employees. Rather involve your employees in the process. They’re smart and talented; that’s why you hired them. They bring key energy and expertise and are   bursting to accomplish something remarkable for you. Imagine what it would be like to have your goals thwarted upon you?Open the channels of communication by describing with clarity the desired business outcomes and anticipated customer impact. Top leaders challenge the team further by communicating a bigger vision. Require your staff to provide you with their three top business goals. By doing so, the goals become purposeful and employees become willing to stretch toward greater accomplishment.
3. Social Learning. Cross-pollinate employees by providing opportunities to learn the business from another department and vice versa.  Interchange ideas, business acumen and expertise across the enterprise in ways that create meaningful value beyond project team meetings.
4. Encourage Peer-to-Peer Rewards.  Research has clearly established the power of offering daily reinforcement which includes daily praise, recognition, and compliments as compelling motivators. Invite peers to recognize others through informal and formal mechanisms. Encourage your high potentials to help manage the energy around this effort through social learning and other collaborative tools.
5. Autonomy Feedback. Request that your team provide you feedback on their ideas for increasing more autonomy within their roles. You may be really surprised at the creative solutions. In opening up dialogue try, “How well is your current role in meeting your need for flexibility, rewards, and autonomy?” or “How well is our team doing in meeting the needs for flexibility and delivering solutions for our internal partners?”
6. Increase the Task’s Challenge. Consider the tasks that are mostly routine in your department or on a project and invite your employees to create alternatives in completing the tasks in their own individual way. A simple verbal comment acknowledging that the task is boring but valuable to the process demonstrates your awareness and desire to make it less cumbersome.

To leap forward, management action is needed as never before to align a dynamic strategy of rewards for the next era of competition; to boost performance in ways that impact employees, customers and share holders.

Organizations can also take several steps to improve their overall talent management strategy by:

• Rethinking their employment brand organizationally and within their divisions.
• Designing rewards that distinguish between top performers and average performers.
• Recalibrating performance management to ensure alignment with business strategy.
• Developing business centered and people management competencies for leaders.

For more information and resources, click here.

©2011  Judy White, SPHR, GPHR, HCS is the President of The Infusion Group, LLC, a next generation people management consulting and coaching firm.  Email:  contact@theinfusiongroupllc.com

Prevent the use of toxic carrots and hard sticks:  Listen to Drive author, Dan Pink in this brief video:  The Surprising Truth at What Motivates Us