By Michael Emoff
CEO
Boost Rewards LLC
June 30, 2009
I’ve had the good fortune of having spent 3 action packed days at the SHRM 2009 annual International Conference in New Orleans networking, challenging and observing Human Resource Specialists of companies small and large alike, and I observed something very telling. With no pre-determined expectation in mind, my eyes and ears were open for candid open feedback from these fine folks relative to motivation and retaining their employees in a challenging economic time. Here is what I observed; the show was very, very well attended, not with the usual crowd, but with a laser focused, mission oriented group of true professionals with agendas. This struck me as quite obvious with so many attendees that I decided to ask very deep questions about what their employees are feeling relative to stress, motivation and productivity. Not surprisingly I learned that employees in most cases felt under appreciated and over worked. But I found it interesting that their satisfaction with just having a job, over rode the historical result of a tainted attitude. Most admitted that they wanted to do more for their employees but didn’t have time to put something in place (interesting that it wasn’t about cost). They continued to share that “just something small would make a big impact on morale which in turn would increase productivity”.
Secondly, I found that the popular opinion of the attendees I spoke with felt that the multi-generational employee base in today’s workforce was best served with a solution that allowed them to choose the award that best motivated them. The overwhelming solution requested by employees of professionals I talked with was a points-based program with lots of options to redeem from that fit the needs of many different tastes.
Finally, it’s about the HR bandwidth, (yes, as the influencer, they pretty much get the final say) and here is what I heard from dozens of mid market size professionals, “I want something easy to implement, I just don’t have the resources to make it work”. It was not a surprise to hear that the number one reason above all others for attending the convention exhibit event was to find an incentive solution to motivate our workforce.
So what’s my take away? The clarity is shining down on me now, if an employer provides something easy to implement, something that offers choices at the broadest levels, something that bleeds engagement of the employees, and if the price is reasonable then you’ve got the golden goose for your organization. There is not a better time than today to offer any kind of benefit to your hard working (and in most cases leaner) employee base. But do your due diligence; there are a lot of right answers in the marketplace and a very lot of wrong ones. Make it simple, engaging and affordable. Take it from the attendees of the SHRM convention ~ it is worth the effort.