Team Work or Individual Performance

[FuseFX]

I am planning to start a competition for my "customer relationship management" staff -- where if they reach $10,000 in profits in next 6 months, I will get them a Motorcycle / Scooter of their choice or give them equivalent amount of cash.

To make things interesting, I am extending this contest. But there I have to make a choice -- should I be fostering individual performance or team work...

There are two things I can do --

a. Give them a reward of a iPhone / Equivalent Cash if they reach $15,000 in Profits and get 95% Positive Feedback from all of their accounts individually.

b. Give them a reward of a iPhone / Equivalent Cash if they reach $30k in Profits Combined and get 95% Positive Feedback from all their accounts individually.

If you were to do something like this, will you reward a team performance or individual performance.

It might also help to know that the total number of full-time employees on roll are 5.

 

[tekz999]

If you prepare 5 iphones, then I will go for B. Otherwise, A.

 

[Gerry]

tough choice.

Team performance...peer pressure to perform and bring your game up. Typically this is a good strategy. Individual rewards will tend to cause ill-will and alienate some.

Seeing that your full time staff is only 5, you can not afford to have ill-will. If we were talking 20, 50 or more, then there would be incentive to compete. But 5 is a small group. I would present it to them to work out their differences now, talk and discuss and get a game plan, and then kick ass in performance.

Foster a cooperative effort instead of individualism.

What have you got to lose? The team wins or no one wins. It is their choice to make or break your goals.

 

[mulligan]

I will get them a Motorcycle / Scooter

Talk to your local dealer and work out a deal for the scooter / iphone / whatever.
See if you can get items at cost price in exchange for advertising or related.

'Honda scooter proudly supplied by Joes Motors'
Visit Joes Motors for great deals on your next scooter .. blah blah'

Then you can advertise that the prize has a recommended retail price of $xxxx but you might not have to pay that much for it

In my experience local companies (Maybe even go to the main distributor / importer) are open to this kind of scenario

(Doesn't just apply to competitions .. need a photocopier for the office? One of those really expensive ones? .. Well you get the drift)

 

[FuseFX]

Talk to your local dealer and work out a deal for the scooter / iphone / whatever.
See if you can get items at cost price in exchange for advertising or related.

'Honda scooter proudly supplied by Joes Motors'
Visit Joes Motors for great deals on your next scooter .. blah blah'

Then you can advertise that the prize has a recommended retail price of $xxxx but you might not have to pay that much for it

In my experience local companies (Maybe even go to the main distributor / importer) are open to this kind of scenario

(Doesn't just apply to competitions .. need a photocopier for the office? One of those really expensive ones? .. Well you get the drift)

Excellent Idea! I am most certainly going to use it for my local company. Doh! Why didn't I think of it earlier?

 

[Johnn]

Beside the prize for the performance. Make sure that the team or the individual is recognized.

A tap on the shoulder saying 'I really appreciate what you have done for us' and take him out for a lunch worth more then $1,000.

It costs nothing to say something nice and it works all the time.


I used to pick one of the best employee and let them take an afternoon off on Friday.

 

[GAMEFINEST]

The winner should get " BLACK DOG " whiskey on top of the iphone

 

[FuseFX]

The winner should get " BLACK DOG " whiskey on top of the iphone

Good Idea! Out of 5 people who work for me -- two are chicks, and one is 18 and other 19 -- so that would make an excellent give away.

 

[sashas]

Good Idea! Out of 5 people who work for me -- two are chicks, and one is 18 and other 19 -- so that would make an excellent give away.

18 and 19 year olds prefer Jack Daniels these days...I should know (I'm one of them :lol

 

[Busynic]

I work by the 1/5 rule where 5/5 equals total available bonus pool. 2/5 rewards for individual, 2/5 rewards for team, and 1/5 - governing rule = overall company goal (ie making a profit). If you don't make a profit - no pool.

Of the 2 individual components; 1 = soft issues and the other tangible individual results.
Of the 2 team components; 1 = contribution to team and the other team results
The last is self explanatory - all of the above is for nought if you are in the red - that is always tough to deal with if you have excellent performers (in which case I use John's method and throw a big night out or personally take a group to an event).

A 100 dollar a head event goes much further than a 100 dollar cash card or money.

Bottom line - reward individual results, but it is only 1/5 of the whole picture. If you aren't a team player you will not last long (at least in our business).

I would rather have 5 people earning 10k than 1 person earning 20k and causing the other 4 people to either leave or only perform at 5k.

Good luck - I like the question and the fact that you take the time to recognize team performance.

 

[FuseFX]

I work by the 1/5 rule where 5/5 equals total available bonus pool. 2/5 rewards for individual, 2/5 rewards for team, and 1/5 - governing rule = overall company goal (ie making a profit). If you don't make a profit - no pool.

Of the 2 individual components; 1 = soft issues and the other tangible individual results.
Of the 2 team components; 1 = contribution to team and the other team results
The last is self explanatory - all of the above is for nought if you are in the red - that is always tough to deal with if you have excellent performers (in which case I use John's method and throw a big night out or personally take a group to an event).

A 100 dollar a head event goes much further than a 100 dollar cash card or money.

Bottom line - reward individual results, but it is only 1/5 of the whole picture. If you aren't a team player you will not last long (at least in our business).

I would rather have 5 people earning 10k than 1 person earning 20k and causing the other 4 people to either leave or only perform at 5k.

Good luck - I like the question and the fact that you take the time to recognize team performance.

Excellent Post. I will most certainly be using this formula. =)