Making predictions is tough.  Especially about the future.  But…

I remember in 1997 talking with some folks at a previous company (an incentive company) about connecting with HR enterprise software vendors to see if there was a way to integrate our reward process into their employee management systems.  In my mind it was a no-brainer.  Find the most widely used HRIS and bolt on a way to reward people through that system.  One sale – gajillion clients.  One instance of the software – many redemption events.  Mo money!

It wasn’t really received well.  The idea didn’t fit their current distribution model, their current billing system, their current software investments.Image

Fast Forward – Today

In my reader:  “Salesforce Debuts Rypple-Powered Work.com To Help Companies Manage And Reward Talent.”  From the article:

With today’s launch of Work.com, Rypple becomes fully integrated with Chatter, the Sales Cloud and the Service Cloud. People Users can see colleagues’ goals, feedback and recognition inside Chatter or recognize work from within a Sales Cloud opportunity record. With Work.com sales managers can onboard new reps more effectively and improve the productivity of their teams. Work.com employee social profiles reflect their expertise, goals and performance right inside Chatter, helping them build their reputation.

We’re told that the entire platform has been rebuilt from the ground up, with a new user experience on the front end. Rypple is also debuting a new partnership with Amazon, to allow companies to gift employee Amazon gift cards. “We are integrating rewards directly into where people are doing work,” explains Rypple co-founder Daniel Debow.

Also announced today, a new partnership with Workday will enable seamless integration between Workday human capital management software and Work.com.

Additionally, Work.com has integrated enterprise perks management platform ChoicePass, which was acquired earlier this year. (emphasis mine…)

Kinda sounds familiar…Yeah… even a blind big can find a truffle now and then.

But… Is it Disruptive to the Incentive Industry?

I remember when Rypple started getting press – a simple little application that asked “how am I doing?”  It has grown, obviously and now is part of a much bigger picture. 

Disruptions always start small.  Disruptions are always obvious in hindsight.  Disruptions are always pooh-poohed by the status quo. 

Step One?

But I think this might be the first flap in the butterfly’s wings…

The questions this announcement brings to my mind are:

  • Will big companies (and some smaller companies) need a standalone recognition system if they have one built into their Salesforce install? 
  • Will (or more likely when) will the other big HRIS providers add this little feature into their systems?  Will Oracle be looking for a reward function in their talent app?
  • If (or more likely when) all the big guys get this functionality will the big incentive companies have to reevaluate their value prop?  What can they add to the discussion if rewarding employees is already built into their target’s talent management system?
  • Will the incentive industry now simply fold into the talent management vertical when it comes to employee reward and recognition?

Don’t’ get me wrong… there is going to be a need for standalone incentive systems, especially for independent sales forces, quick, tactical programs, channel programs and other “non-HR” type engagement activities.

But I can’t help but wonder what the long-term impact on employee recognition programs will be when it is an included feature in an overall entire talent management SaaS solution.

Can you say Instagram?  Can you say Yammer?  Both nice little “apps” bought and assimilated by their acquirer.

Just thinking out loud.  What do you think? 

Image: Incentive/Shutterstock