Tony Stark said it in the movie Iron Man…

That’s how Dad did it, that’s how America does it, and it’s worked out pretty well so far.

He was referring to the new Jericho missile and its destructive power.  After that quick intro he waves to the soldier manning the missile, the soldier fires the missile and the mountains behind him disappear.  Wonderful stuff.  We like big bangs.

Now imagine the same scene but when Tony waves to the soldier, a single shot from a sniperrings out.

Not the same impact is it? 

I think we’re seeing a similar issue when it relates to incentive and recognition.

Recognition Is the Go-To Plan

Today’s consultants, reward providers and HR peeps have latched onto the “recognition” bandwagon with both hands, the jaws of life and a death grip.  Every problem a company has with recruiting, growth, innovation, engagement, wellness, cafeteria food and toe fungus, can be solved with a “strategically-aligned, socially-connected, app-based, SaaS software solution (ps: connected to a catalog of rewards.)”

I think because recognition programs (or strategy, whatev) have such a big footprint in an organization we believe it is the best solution.  Like our friend Tony… a big bang is the way to go.  No little missiles.  Let loose the hounds of war and we’ll bomb the hell out of those mountains. 

We like big bangs.  Big bangs get noticed.  Big bangs make us feel powerful.  Recognition programs typically are launched company-wide with big communications budgets, meetings, training, updates, and senior leadership support (and they SHOULD be.)

But all of that pomp and circumstance doesn’t mean you should neglect the smaller, more specific and more tactical application of incentives.

You can’t just run a peer-to-peer program, add a dash of points for prizes, and assume you’ve got a winning reward strategy.

It’s A Portfolio

Don’t get me wrong.  Recognition is important.  Very important.  Recognition creates context for behavior.  Recognition creates guidelines and boundaries.  Recognition provides exemplars.  Recognition provides a solid foundation for your organization’s behavior map.

Recognition is good.  It’s just not good enough.

Like any balanced approach to performance, recognition is simply one arrow in the quiver.  However, without a working knowledge of incentives and their application, you’re missing a powerful weapon of influence in your organization.  Without incentives, you don’t have the benefit of a very effective tactical way to influence behavior.  And that puts you at a disadvantage in the marketplace.

Like snipers, incentives can be targeted very specifically.  Incentives can focus on a single behavior and can be turned up and down quickly depending on the effect you need.  Incentives can be targeted to a specific product, a specific department, a specific timeframe. 

Recognition can’t.

Incentives (designed correctly) have limited shelf-life and don’t need complete corporate participation to be effective (or to be terminated.) 

Incentives can create awareness when there was none.  Incentives can provide signaling to your audience about what is important NOW.  Recognition programs typically signal what is important ALL THE TIME.

Our military uses snipers when appropriate.  They are effective when you need a very specific action and reaction.  Same with incentives.

I know that launching a big, enterprise-wide recognition program is fun.  I know you get some mad props when things go great and CEOs have fun shaking hands with the common folk as they hand out crystal skulls laser etched with this year’s theme.

But I ask you to consider the lowly incentive program.  That very specific, very targeted and very tactical tool that can quickly and effectively influence behavior within your organization.  Spend some time thinking about it and include it in your overall influence strategy. (Here’s a link to my incentive decision flowchart and my rules structure overview– and did I mention they both are FREE!)

I know it’s not as fun as blowing up a whole mountain… but sometimes that single shot can have big impact too.