'Give'm a gift card!'.

• Author: Schaefer, John

... and other comments of a mediocre manager

Consider the following scenario of expectations of an upcoming human resources meeting: Connie is dreading the meeting. Although she is excited about sharing how the company blood drive is progressing or the response to the wellness initiative, Connie knows that the subject of enhancing employee recognition and incentive programs is going to involve a battle among her colleagues.

Her colleague Bob will get on his soapbox to preach about how the company already pays enough in wages, and people are lucky to have a job in the current recession. Brenda will remind everybody that employees just want money or stuff they can use. Joan will chime in with how bored her staff is with traditional logoed awards and how the company should probably just hand out gift cards for the mall.

Sound familiar? If you can relate to Connie's frustration, perhaps the following ideas might help improve your next meeting and make it more enjoyable.

It's been said that "Money isn't everything, but what-ever's in second place is a heck of a long way behind!" It's tough to disagree with that opinion, which is probably the reason why compensation tends to be the measurement of success and progress in most people's eyes.

If it's true, however, why are low levels of productivity, loyalty, and morale still such huge and costly-problems in corporate America today? Why can't companies just offer employees enough money to motivate them to go the extra mile so that everyone wins?

The answer to these questions is that the "It's All About the Money" approach has three primary problems which are the subject of the following paragraphs.

Maslow's View

Back in the 1940s, psychologist Abraham Maslow developed his famous hierarchy of needs pyramid, and he described the fallacy of relying on money to motivate and reward. As everyone remembers, Maslow believed that we move up through each of the five levels of "need" when we're satisfied at the preceding level.

Money resides in level 1 of Maslow's hierarchy, which provides for our physiological needs (basic survival, meeting our needs associated with breathing, thirst, hunger, a roof over our head, and clothing). At level 2, we meet our security needs, which include physical safety and freedom from attack, along with the assurance of financial safety provided by such company benefits as 401 K plans.

At level 3, we focus on our social needs, interacting with friends, family, and supportive...