Incentives

I have always believed in the power of good incentives.  There were several that we initiated that really worked well for us.  Of course the salary and bonus programs did their job for the most part, but in order to raise the level of performance beyond normal job performance you need special programs.

In the late 70s we started a sales program called Master’s Circle.  In order to qualify you must have attained 100% of your sales quota in all product categories.  The winners and their spouses & significant others were treated to a 4 day vacation in a first class resort in the US, Mexico or Nassau in February.  It included separate seminars for the employees and their guests, lots of opportunities to socialize with our executives, learn about new products and services before they were released, and of course lots of time for their favorite recreational activities and great dinners and partys.  One of things we did to create excitement for this program was make sure we sent spouses and significant others where we could constant reminders and updates as to their mates progress toward the final goals.

In the late 80s we instituted a similar program for our corporate Quality Excellence Program.  This is worth a chapter of its own and I will talk more about it later.

One of the most successful incentive contests we had was called “Top Gun”.  It was put in place shortly after the successful movie by the same name.  We were faced with a small recession, orders were down, inventories were up, but we thought with a little extra effort and incentive we could turn the situation around.  We initiated the contest in September.  The top performers, spouses, and significant others, in each of our 11 divisions and International in addition to Masters Circle were flown to St.Thomas for a week of fun.  The only required events were one business meting for about an hour and a closing cocktail party and dinner.  The rest of the week was spent doing what you wanted or participating in group excursions if desired.  For this event we really solicited the help of spouses and significant constant notifications and reminders of the event.  This program turned the business concerns to a very positive result by the end of the year.

Lessons learned:

1.  Money is not the only incentive that motivates people.

2.  Including family and or partners in contests helps incentivize the employee.

3.  By making the prize more fun than work the word gets passed along to all those who did not make the cut.

4.  Always include spouses and significant others in meeting and even design some meetings for them.  It helps them understand, feel included, and allows you to learn what’s on their minds.

5.  Only choose high quality locations and include only high quality programs.