When I started my company, I knew I wanted two job titles, with “Founder” being one of them.  It took me 43 years to get the courage, wisdom, and knowledge to strike out on my own, and it was important to see that word on my business card, and part of my signature in email.  Some things you do for yourself, and that is perfectly OK.

I love my second, and more important job title;  Chief Instigator.

Chief Instigator.  For those people who know me, they know how well the moniker fits.  For those that don’t, it gives me an avenue to discuss what I do in my consultant role when I assist companies in the Four R’s of Workforce Engagement, recruiting, retraining, rewarding, and retaining top talent.  I take my role as “instigator” seriously.  According to Dictionary.com, “instigator” is defined as “to urge, provoke, or incite to some action or course“.  The other definition is  “someone who deliberately foments trouble“.

I might have done more of the second than the first in an initial consulting project with a new client.

I was invited to participate in a discussion with 10 or so senior managers related to employee engagement in their organization.  Over the six hours, the discussion was lively and far reaching.  There were some issues that we all agreed on, and some that had as many opinions as there were people in the room.  I was thrilled to see how comfortable the team was in “disagreeing”, it made me feel good about their upcoming engagement efforts.

HOWEVER…

The issue of Rewards & Recognition came up and I was asked to give my opinion.

They actually asked my opinion…  OMG.

So I gave it to them.  And here is what I told them:

Reserve 80% of your rewards for the top 20% of your employees.

“What about the other 80% of our employees, Marc?”

Well, their reward is that in today’s economy, you are still giving them a paycheck so they can take care of themselves, and their family. With 2.5 million people losing their job in 2008, 1.5 million in just the last three months, employees who do marginal work should be happy to have a job.  A steady paycheck is “reward enough”.

Silence. It seemed like an eternity, but it was more like 10 seconds.  But boy did they drag.

This is where the intersection of “Marc the HR Guy” and “Marc the Manager” comes into conflict.  I really do feel strongly that the topo’s (top performers) deserve the majority of the rewards, whether instant, formal, or informal.  Of course everyone in an organization is important to customer satisfaction and retention.  However, just like you have some clients or customers that are more vital to your company’s success than others, the same is true with employees.  That’s not “right or wrong”, it’s business.

And I believe it more than ever, especially today.

We are in a protracted recession.  Government moves slowly, and even with the momentum of a new president and a financial crises, things will take time to get back on the right track.  Consumers (both business and individual) have already shown a propensity for spending less now then in the past, and this may not change for a couple of years, if ever.

So, who can you least afford to lose?  Once you figure that out, figure out how to create or change your R&R process to ensure that the best employees receive the greatest rewards and recognition.

EZ, Sneezy.