Is Your Rewards Program Incentivizing the Wrong Behavior?

Photo Credit Ylanite Koppens

Is Your Rewards Program Incentivizing the Wrong Behavior?

Most organizations utilize some form of reward system because they know it can be an effective way to change behavior. It can be a fun and powerful way to jumpstart a new initiative or revitalize a tired campaign. However, there is a catch to utilizing reward systems to improve performance: If we are not careful, what we incentivize can easily drive the wrong behavior.

More Calls = More Results? Maybe Not...

Recently, my friend Teesha was promoted to manage a local call center tasked with gathering and updating client records for her firm. Facing a looming deadline, her superiors tasked her with improving the number of completed client records her team submitted every month. Teesha's previous experience was in outbound sales and she believed that the more calls her team made, the higher likelihood of completing the required documents. Therefore, she set up a reward system that gave the team bonuses for reaching a certain number of calls a month.

However, over time she noticed that while the number of calls dramatically increased under this reward system, the number of completed client records barely saw any improvement.

What was going on here?

Point The Bat Like the Big Bambino

During the 1932 World Series, Babe Ruth, the famous MLB superstar of the age, reportedly pointed his bat at the stands to call the shot before hitting a home run that landed him in the history books. What would have happened if he had pointed the bat at the jeering crowd or the bases teeming with rival players instead? Leaders are charged with directing their people's attention to the right activities and behaviors in order to guarantee the success of the team.

There are many things that can distract your team away from your objectives - other deadlines, conflicting priorities, personal struggles... The list is endless. The point of reward systems should be to keep your team's sights on the goal and NOT to further distract them away from it. By focusing your reward system on your objective instead of the method, you can ensure everyone knows what he or she are shooting for.

Encouraging Different Methods

What is the commonality between 9+1 and 4+6? They both equal 10.

One reason we incentivize the wrong thing is that we lack the confidence that our people can achieve our goals without our micro-managing their methods.

There are plenty of successful reward systems that focus on a centerline methodology, but in order for this kind of system to work, you have to be sure the activity you are incentivizing is truly a predictor of success. This means thinking through contingencies and testing out different methodologies.

Why not involve your team in this process?

There are countless ways that you could get to the same goal, and if left to their own devices, you may discover that your team will find a more effective pathway than you ever could have imagined on your own. Reward systems will always have unintended consequences if you use them to micromanage your people's activities. Make sure that your incentives instead inspire your people to creatively achieve your objectives in their own way. Dr. Stephen Covey has some great insights on this in his talk, Green and Clean:

"You cannot hold people responsible for results if you supervise their methods."

Quality Over Quantity

Teesha's reward system was well intended but her focus on the team's methodology was distracting them away from achieving the main goal. Most of her team worked remote and tracking their calls made her feel confident that they were on board and engaged. However, in order to qualify for their bonuses, her team began to exhibit behaviors that focused on achieving the highest quantity of calls instead of the highest quality; they called through lists of disconnected numbers, planned their calls at times they knew the clients wouldn't pick up, and did anything else in their power to ensure that they could make as many calls as possible in a day. None of these activities would improve the number of completed client files submitted.

How could she have set up the reward system differently to be more focused on the end result and inspire innovation on her team? She could start by talking to them.

Reward systems are most effective when the people being tracked have a hand in their development and deployment. Work with your team, agree on incentives that drive the right behaviors in your situation, and task them with holding each other accountable. It is amazing what you can accomplish when you unleash the power of collective genius.

Let the games begin.

Finding The Advantage in Being Wrong

When was the last time your beliefs or work was challenged? What did you do?

For most of us, our first inclination is to double down on our beliefs or attack the challenger in some way. It is embarrassing to be accused of inaccuracy, and we, therefore, try to protect ourselves by lashing out or cushioning our bruised egos by seeking out data that corroborates our ideas - a phenomenon called confirmation bias.

It is no wonder we act like cornered animals when accused of making a mistake; Our culture often associates precision with morality - inaccuracy is seen as an indication of incompetence or subterfuge, and we are nasty when we think someone is wrong. You need only turn to the comments section of any social media sites for evidence.

However, our fear of being wrong can result in behavior that burns bridges, stunt our growth, and ultimately close the door to greatness.

Information will always move faster than we can consume it, which means that nearly all of us are unknowingly operating under assumptions and statistics that may have been disproven or debunked, even if the original information was backed by facts.

In order to progress in this new reality, we need to flip the script and start to see our mistakes as stepping stones. We need to be open to the idea that we COULD be wrong, and be cautious about assigning absolute truth to the last study/book/podcast/meme we encountered. You don't need to accept every criticism that comes your way, but becoming comfortable with the discomfort of uncertainty will jumpstart your path to growth.

This week, think about how you react to mistakes in others and in yourself. What would help you be more open to learning from conflicting evidence? What can you do to inspire your teams to break more eggs?

Choice - Your Ultimate Superpower

Today, you will make mistakes, say the wrong thing, and inaccurately assume negative intent from a colleague or client. Our superpower isn't in whether or not we can prevent these things from occurring.

- Hint, you can't 100% of the time -

Rather, it is in making the CHOICE to learn from mistakes, courageously right wrongs, and alter our perceptions to assume positive intent.

Choice is your superpower. Use it wisely.

Criticism - A Menu of Options

I won't lie to you... Receiving constructive feedback can be awkward at best and can definitely bruise our ego, no matter how well intended. How many of us avoid feedback altogether because we don't like feeling guilty, obligated to change, or even offended to have someone else's will imposed on you? Feedback is essential to growth and success, but being open to feedback doesn't always mean you have to agree with or implement every suggestion you receive. Seek out alternative suggestions, do some soul searching, and implement only those things that you believe to be valuable to your situation. When you start seeing feedback as a menu of options for growth instead of simply the dead-weight of other's expectations, you can stop avoiding criticism and make the changes that will have the greatest impact your life.

How To Stop Undercutting Your Own Credibility

No matter what you are up against this week, be sure you are not undercutting your own credibility. Our insecurities have a nasty way of coming out in our speech, actions, and even in how we carry ourselves. As social creatures, we feed off the cues we are given by those we are interacting with, which means that your behavior can quickly become a self-fulfilling prophecy of your fears.
This means that if you go to a sales call worried that the client won't like your product, they probably won't. If you worry that your team thinks you are too young or inexperienced to lead them, they probably do. Why? Because YOU are giving them the social cues that lead them to think that way. But within this fault line lies our power to change the future. Take stock of your insecurities, figure out what triggers your self-fulfilling behavior, and MAKE A PLAN for what you will do instead. Social scientists call this creating a MENTAL MODEL, and it is scientifically proven to change the way we think and behave. Your mental models are your superpower this week – change your mind, change your future!

Time Management: Saying "Yes" So You Can Say "No"

What if plowing through your task list was more about who you are than your "time management" methodology?

When presented with unfinished projects and burnt out team members, the instinct is usually to help improve time management skills or offer training in executing goals. In fact, time management and execution are some of the most requested training I encounter with my clients.

I get the logic. If we know HOW to manage our task list, we should be able to do it, right? It's a matter of competency. 

However, despite being armed with the best research-backed methods and state-of-the-art tech, we still struggle with managing our time and attention.

Where is the Disconnect?

One area that can mess up our groove is our inability to say "NO" to things that divert our attention away from our priorities - especially when those things seem urgent or important in their own right. The late Dr. Stephen R. Covey notes that it is a lack of understanding our personal priorities that keep us from filtering out unimportant tasks so we can focus on the important:

“You have to decide what your highest priorities are and have the courage—pleasantly, smilingly, non-apologetically, to say “no” to other things. And the way you do that is by having a bigger “yes” burning inside. The enemy of the “best” is often the “good.”

What is the "Yes" Burning Inside You?

Although most of us agree with the sentiment that passion drives focus, it can be difficult to identify exactly where our own passion lies. Here are some questions inspired by the 5 Choices to Extraordinary Productivity to help direct your thinking:

1. Do you know what is most important to you? 

Set aside company goals and looming deadlines for a moment. When was the last time you sat down and really laid out what is important in your life? What do you want to accomplish this year professionally/personally? Where do you want to be in 10 years? How do you get there? What is standing in your way?

Try scheduling in some time quarterly for reflection. This isn't just an exercise for first-year interns or low-level employees. In order to master the art of saying "no," you need to constantly reassess your understanding of what is most important to you - and what isn't. Reminding ourselves of what we care about on a continuing basis is a great way to ensure we remain focused.

2. Do you know what roles you play? 

Many of us play hundreds of roles in our lives. Have you ever taken the time to figure out which of those roles you want to focus on and determine how much time you are spending - or NOT spending - on each of those roles? Take a look at which roles are taking up the majority of your time - whether you intend to or not, you are already prioritizing your time. Are these roles the ones you want to be focusing on? How can you reallocate your time so you spend more on the roles important to you?

You can't consider yourself a stellar "family man" or "volunteer rock-star," if you aren't devoting any time to these ventures and are instead wasting time on other, less important roles. Or more commonly - you are spending your time on things that seem important, but don't have anything to do with those things you are passionate about.

3. Do you know how you fit into the larger picture? 

Once you understand who you are and what you want, ask yourself where that identity fits into the goals of your organization or project. Where are you aligned? What tasks could be delegated to someone else? Not only will this exercise empower you to find greater balance at work, it will also help you to become more of an asset to the organization by completing more of the projects you are assigned and creating more opportunities for team members to add value at all levels:

• Positively impact your subordinates: Think of it this way...If you never delegate tasks to team members, they will never have a chance to shine and progress their own careers. Plus, by delegating, you are able to commit to less and therefore get more done - A win win! By narrowing your focus, you may be turning down projects, but the fewer projects you have on your plate, the more likely you are to complete them - especially if they are ones you are passionate about. 
• Keep your rapport with superiors: Keeping yourself aligned with your organization's goals also makes it easier to push back when other priorities threaten to derail you. It is far easier to say no to a superior if you are doing so in order to execute on the more important goals they have already tasked you with. Don't forget - superiors are under the same stresses you are and are just as likely to forget where the real priority lies.

Seek Results, Not Busy Work

A few years ago I was working for a supervisor notorious for landing people with urgent tasks, only to burst into your office with other tasks that completely disrupted your flow. On one such occasion, I was working on a project he had assigned me that was critical to our larger initiative and had to be done that day. When he burst into my office with an urgent but obviously less important task, I reminded him of the importance of what I was doing and asked him if he preferred I set my task aside for the new one. Needless to say, he found someone else to help with the less important task.

If you understand your highest priorities as a person, you can better determine what unimportant goals, tasks, notifications, etc. can be set aside to focus on what is truly important. Time management skills can come later - If you really want to manage your time better in 2018, start by taking some time to first figure out what "yes" is burning inside you.

Want to learn more tips on time management? CLICK HERE to explore The 5 Choices to Extraordinary Productivity.

Your Shower Is A Death-Trap: A Discussion On Perspective

I...didn't need that anyway

I've heard parents say that privacy is a pipe-dream when you have kids - I never thought I'd be able to

relate to that as a pet-parent. Both my blue cream kitties have to be with me wherever I go; on my lap during client calls, doing figure-eights around my heels when I'm struggling up the stairs, and always, ALWAYS pestering me in the most private of places - the restroom. 

Nowhere is this incessant companionship more striking than when I am attempting to shower. Where once I saw the shower as a place of quiet relaxation, now it is filled with the insistent howls of my girls.  These aren't the sweet mewlings of a kitten curious about what mommy is doing - oh no! These are the deep, pleading, terrified howls of an animal in crisis. To them, the shower is a death-trap bent on inflicting hot, steaming torture upon their unsuspecting mommy. Therefore, they either try to save me from this horrific fate or howl at their helplessness between the shower curtains.

As amusing as the situation is for me, it offers an interesting lesson about perspective.

Excerpt from "Point of View"

FALSE CONSENSUS EFFECT

Imagine you have been given 30 seconds to write down all the words you associate with the word "Thanksgiving." If we compared your list of words with someone else tasked with the same thing, how many words do you think would be duplicated on both lists?

All of them? Half of them? 

How about none?

I've seen this activity administered countless times as a part of sessions covering a myriad of topics. No matter how many times it is replicated, more often than not each individual's list is 90-100% different than that of their peers. These results are consistent no matter the industry, corporate/team culture, or participant demographics because they are driven by individual perception.

We all perceive the world through a different lens, based on the experiences we have had, our understanding of the world, and the beliefs we hold. Despite this, studies show that we tend to assume  - often inaccurately - that a vast majority of our peers share the same beliefs and paradigms as us. In social psychology, we call this phenomenon the "False Consensus Effect." We see that we share something in common with our peers - work on the same team, practice similar religion, are of a similar minority/majority group, attending same work session, wearing same color, etc - and then assume that we must share other commonalities.

The late Dr. Stephen R. Covey advised us that "If two people have the same opinion, one is unnecessary." I would argue that the same judgment can be made of two people who assume that they have the same opinion. How many crises could be averted if we didn't assume our perspectives were the only ones?

The only way to really know what is going through someone's head is through communication - and that means becoming comfortable with discomfort.

Anyone watch The Odd Couple anymore?

GETTING COMFORTABLE WITH DISCOMFORT

History has shown us that innovation often comes out of discomfort. I cringe to think how we would all smell today if William Feetham, inventor of the first modern shower, hadn't been sick of breaking his back lugging pan after pan of hot, boiled water into a tub once a month only to his bath cold and filthy after his entire family bathed before him. Much to my cats' chagrin, Feetham was able to turn his discomfort into a solution that millions of people use every day.

What could we accomplish together if we were to embrace our discomfort and have high-courage conversations with our peers about things that mattered? What if we listened to understand, not to reply? What if we were less concerned about being RIGHT than about understanding the perspectives of others?

Until I learn to speak cat or invest in a Catterbox  collar, I will never truly understand why our cats hate the shower. For now, I am grateful for the insight their plight offers:

If we are to make any difference in our relationships, organizations, world - or showertime - it is imperative that we remove the blinders of assumption and take the advice from St. Francis and Dr. Covey - "Seek first to understand, then to be understood."

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References:
1. Alicke, M. D., & Largo, E. (1995). The role of the self in the false consensus effect. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 31, 28-47.

2. Fabrigar, L. R., & Krosnick, J. A. (1995). Attitude importance and the false consensus effect. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 21, 468-479.

3. Ross, L., Greene, D., & House, P. (1977). The false consensus effect: An egocentric bias in social perception and attribution processes. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology 13, 279-301.

4. False Consensus Effect retrieved from psychology.iresearchnet.com/

5. Covey, S.R., The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons In Personal Change, New York, New York, 1989

6. Belson, J., The Odd Couple (1973)

7. Mulrooney, T., The History of Showers retrieved from http://www.plumbworld.co.uk