ISO 10018 and Employee Engagement

ISO 10018 is a new ISO standard for organizations of all sizes, types and activities to provide a framework for getting the best out of people in the implementation of quality management systems based on ISO 9001.

It is also something that some in the traditional incentive, rewards and recognition industry feel has the potential to elevate our industry to new levels of expertise never seen before.  I certainly hope so but so many things have to happen before that can come to fruition.  

ISO 9000 fostered thousands of consultants who work within that arena.  Many feel that when ISO 10018 finalizes their standards for employee engagement that it will open a market for thousands of award companies who claim today that their products and services engage people. That’s a big jump!

There’s little dispute that more investors are demanding that public companies invest in human capital and engagement. Will the arrival of ISO 10018 provide us with a better, more scientific way of developing engagement strategies capable of achieving incontestable solutions?  And will it produce award companies who have the capability to provide the full service necessary to make it all work? 

That would seem to assume that the industry has not been able to do that up to this time.  Frankly, most suppliers in the industry can’t.  They just provide pieces of the solution or act as sub-contractors to those who say that they can.  They are not really involved in strategy, merely tactics.  And many of us love it that way.  We sell commodities, we know and understand that and will never be standing in the boardroom talking those intricate strategies?

The award industry has craved the demand and respect earned by the marketing and advertising industry for years.  Unfortunately, most award companies can’t afford to or won’t invest in the expertise and manpower to deserve that respect.  They would also have to completely change their way of thinking regarding how they earn their money, from making profit on selling commodities to consulting fees for designing and implementing strategies that are effective. 

When the ISO 10018 standards finally come about and establish an accepted strategic framework, we hope some of the award companies can make that transition.  It would be nice to see. 

Gift Cards Preferred Gift for Special Occasions

In 2017, research by InComm, the market leader in new payment technologies and solutions, found that consumers turn to gift cards for many life events not just the holidays

For years the award industry judiciously fought the onslaught of gift cards as a reward in incentive or recognition programs.  They asserted that because they are cash like, they are the same as cash and should not be used for awards for the same reasons you really shouldn’t use cash for awards.  The real reason for that debate was that the traditional incentive award companies had profits exceeding 80% onmerchandise awards and 10% or less on gift cards. 

Gift cards succeeded because they have become a way of life in our culture.  It’s what many award winners want because they can get the award they really want in the most cost effective way.

Now, according to the research we find that gift cards are being used for 82% of birthdays, 39% for graduations and 52% as a thank you. 

In these instances the 92% of the survey respondents gave two or more gift cards and 54% gave five or more.

In addition, 82% said they would appreciate receiving a gift card for those occasions as well.

Younger consumers are finding even more occasions in which to give a gift card.  Millennia respondents between 25 and 34 noted they often give cards for things such as new babies and new home ownership.

Gift cards are appropriate for any number of occasions, alleviating much of the stress that can come with shopping for “just the right gift.”  This versatility benefits both the giver and the recipient. 

For more information on Ultimate Choice Inc.’s gift card products or services or other white papers please contact us at Ultimatechoiceinfo@cox.net

If It’s Right – It’s Right

The incentive industry, or motivation industry, or award industry (call it what you want) has been discussing all the reasons why you should implement a non-cash employee award program for years.  Long before the term employee engagement became so fashionable, they were extolling the benefits of recognizing and awarding employees for their performance. 

The incentive industry has been trying to prove a hard dollar ROI for these types of programs since the beginning.  Why, simply because that’s what the financial management wanted to see before they would approve the budgets for the awards.  So the industry scrambled around for years and spent millions on research just to prove that hypothesis. 

Sorry, in all we’ve seen, you can’t draw a straight line from giving an employee a $50 gift card for superior performance and the fact that what they did resulted in $127 to the bottom line. Sure it can be part of it, but there are too many pieces to the profit puzzle interconnected with employee awards to show the empirical evidence.

So stop doing it!  As Paul Hebert, a friend and extremely knowledgeable in the awards industry and enlightened contributor on “Fistful of Talent” said not so long ago…

“If you’re looking for business rationale to recognize people in your organization, you’re doing it wrong.”

Start looking at employee recognition as something other than a way to give your employees more stuff and start looking at it as something to do because it simply the right thing to do.  It makes sense, it does engage your employees, it does make them feel good, it does keep them motivated and on the job and they will stay with your company longer than the disgruntled employees who won’t. 

Have you ever noticed an employee from a supplier you work with, or service person in a retail store, or the receptionist or nurse in your doctor’s office, or teller or assistant manager in your bank, that was always smiling and genuinely ready to provide you with great service?  Sure you have.  And when you did, did you thank them for their service, or remark on how nice they were or how well they performed?  Did you ask them if they were ever thanked and rewarded for their service by their management?  You might be surprised at their answer.  Some industry research would indicate that at least 50% probably weren’t.

If your management won’t take the time to recognize good performance it’s a shame, too many don’t.  But if you want to retain and grow your best employees you should, if not someone else surely will.

As Paul Hebert says…

”don’t worry about the ROI…worry about the ROH…the return on humanity.”

For more information on Ultimate Choice Inc.’s products or services or other white papers please contact us at Ultimatechoiceinfo@cox.net

What Motivates Best in the Workplace?

For years we have followed LinkedIn discussions from a variety of groups such as the Harvard Business Review, HR Professionals Worldwide and LinkedIn HR.  There are a tremendous number of knowledgeable HR professionals on these sites and subjects and discussion topics that can keep you involved for hours. 

“What Motivates Best in the Workplace” is a topic from a while back that brought responses from HR professionals from literally from every corner of the world.  We often see the employee engagement we deal with on a daily basis as particular only to our own culture, but they are not.  Everyone has to deal with them to one degree or another.  What is interesting is that there is a lot of commonality in the answers, regardless of the cultures. 

The topic question above added some subtext to it to stimulate the responses.  This subtext included:  “Is it money, personal ambition, team, leadership, all of the above? When faced with a demotivated workforce, what common thing among people consistently brings out the best in us all?”

If you would like to read the string of responses from places like Saudi Arabia or India, please click here.  We think you will find it interesting

For more information on Ultimate Choice Inc.’s products or services or other white papers please contact us at Ultimatechoiceinfo@cox.net