CONDUIT

No thanks to “simple thank you's”

If you think a simple thank you has a place in your Total Rewards strategy its time to get real. Let’s get one thing straight, we don’t disagree with the thought. We applaud the concept and think people should say ‘thank you’ more often (the same by the way can be said of ‘please’ and ‘excuse me’). We just think that ‘thank you(s)’ like any other corporate asset can be better managed.

Your best managers are by no means bad people. In fact good managers usually have high emotional IQs. They are sensitive, empathetic and don’t intentionally forget their manners. But like any other over-worked, hyper-active, multi-tasking executive they can often forget to show their appreciation in meaningful ways. The simple ‘thank you’ has a lousy track record for on-time delivery.

Platforms that help managers publicly acknowledge desired behavior and promote “best practices” while also creating role models improve on the simple ‘thank you’ don’t you think? Automation will never replace the human touch. It can however make a simple ‘thank you’ more meaningful and as a result more valuable to everyone involved.   

Relying on a simple ‘thank you’ is not naive. Expecting ‘thank you(s)’ to be doled out in a timely and consistent manner may be however. There are effective ways to supplement the verbal ‘thank you’. We see more and more companies giving managers small discretionary budgets that are passed on to employees in the form of animated e-thank you messages with links to point totals.  Colleagues are usually copied in. Not only does the tool make the ‘thank you’ process more effective and efficient it also gives management a mechanism to track and diagnosis ‘thank you’ activity. 

The “‘It” Factor: A New Total Rewards Model Leads the Way, Workspan June 2006

Total Rewards is the new way to describe fundamental contract between the employer and employee. In exchange for providing time, talent, effort and results the employee can expect a broader range of financial and psychic compensation designed to touch every need on Maslow’s hierarchy. 

So with companies investing more aggressively in HR systems and scrutinizing their returns shouldn’t the real ROI test include developing leadership? Its tempting to overemphasize some of the more tangible metrics when measuring the impact of your Total Rewards strategy; productivity, customer equity, market valuation, employee attrition, but what about the most precious of all corporate assets—leadership?   

The pipeline of available workers is thinning and companies looking to sustain future growth will need their current crop of employees to embrace challenges, complexity, and change.   

The displaced nature of the modern workforce underscores the need for leadership. Virtual work teams physically removed from headquarters are more likely to develop their own social networks. Policies, procedures and practices are adopted and utilized faster when they are supported by role models. In today’s business model leadership needs to sprout as much from the local cubical as the corner office. 

All HR systems must be geared to promote leadership, ownership and engagement at all levels and in all situations. That’s the long term ROI for each plank in your Total Rewards platform. 

the “‘It” Factor: A New Total Rewards Model Leads the Way, Workspan June 2006

The recently published World at Work Total Rewards Model does an excellent job in outlining the concept. For those in search of a primer on the subject it is required reading. The issue of reward relevancy is dead on and worth a deeper dive.

Lately we are seeing increased emphasis on tailored messages and offerings within reward programs. In an effort to make messages rise above the normal noise of everyday life, companies are carefully fine tuning value propositions, goals, and award possibilities by a mix of variables that begin with job codes and could also include business units, years of service, past experiences and successes, physical location, even local competitive influences.

Similar to the way direct marketing gurus fine tune offers by demographics, human capital stewards are also using data driven engines to deliver and modify messages with surgical precision based on a variety of relevant factors. Some have developed mobility maps that modify the message goal and reward based on the employee’s performance standing. One of the more fundamental grids calls for messages and goals that show, grow, reach, or teach employees based on their success and or experience. As a result of these efforts employees are more intone, more responsive and more motivated by reward programs.