Thank employees with something that’s meaningful to them. Here’s how to reward eight different personality types, from Type As to introverts to flat-out snobs.
Everyone wants to feel appreciated and be recognized for their hard work. Unfortunately for employers, the ways we feel appreciated are different for different types of people. In order for an incentive or recognition to be successful, it must connect to the person in a meaningful way. While a lactose-intolerant employee may be grateful for receiving a cheese-of-the month club gift because it’s a ‘nice gesture,’ you’re passing up an opportunity to truly show that person they’re appreciated. You also lose the chance to motivate that person to keep working hard for more of the same kind of recognition.
“Recognition is more meaningful when the form it takes is highly valued by the recipient,” says Dr. Bob Nelson, author of The 1001 Rewards & Recognition Fieldbook: The Complete Guide. So when deciding what reward or recognition to give to a certain employee, you must consider what type of person the employee is, and what would be meaningful to him or her. Here are eight common personality types found in the workplace, with expert gift suggestions for each.
Mr. and Ms. Moneybags
Got a sales rep who makes six figures? Awarding well-compensated employees may be difficult, since they won’t be impressed easily and they already have flat screen TVs and the newest cell phone, so the uniqueness of the gift is even more important. “This is when you get into the truly personal things, and things that are priceless,” says Jennifer Rosenzweig, global employee practice leader for Carlson Marketing in Minneapolis, MN. Personal gifts may be Broadway tickets with backstage access, where they can talk to the director or cast members after the show, or box tickets to a sporting event with a chance to meet a member from the team. Or concert tickets to see a band that the employee truly enjoys, with backstage passes of course.
“This type of person really wants experiences – tickets to a special concert that only certain people are invited to or getting into a museum when other people can’t,” says Bruce Bolger, managing director, Northwestern University’s Forum for People Performance Management and Measurement in Evanston, IL.This employee would enjoy tickets for high-end cultural events or charity events. Add a little zing to the gift by getting seats at a table with significant people, like a governor or senator.
Customized items work well for Mr. and Ms. Moneybags, such as custom-designed jewelry or a custom piece of artwork. Imported pearls and limited-design jewelry will also be appreciated incentives for this personality type, according to Larisa Mendenhall, director of individual awards at ITA Group Inc., West Des Moines, IA.
And just because they may have everything, don’t necessarily rule out a flat-screen TV as an effective gift. “Maybe they need one in every room at the cabin,” says Louise Anderson, president and CEO of the Anderson Performance Improvement Company in Hastings, MN.
The Type A Personality
You know these guys and gals: They’re workaholics who are excessively time-conscious, highly competitive and incapable of relaxing. Effective incentives would be things that could help them save time, such as PDAs or mobile office accessories. Due to their competitive nature, sports-related things, such as golf clubs, are also valued. Because Type As like to stay on top of their game, not just in golf but in life too, cutting-edge technology is appreciated by them. “Basically anything related to productivity, and people like this are usually early adopters, so new gadgetry would work too,” Bolger says.
A Type A person definitely doesn’t want a knickknack – something that doesn’t do much besides collect dust. While they may appreciate a trophy, it won’t help their productivity or save time in their day, so it won’t be of much worth to them.
Due to their inability to relax, Scott Siewert, divisional vice president, sales of Atlanta-based USMotivation, recommends sending Type A employees out of their comfort zone and to Tahiti. “I would send them to Bora-Bora, where they could really relax and smell the flowers,” he says. “I think any Type A person that goes there would have to say ‘Wow, there’s more to life than just running around with my BlackBerry 24-7.’”
The Nerd
For your high-tech employee, cutting-edge incentives are a must. “These people want to be the first on the block, so the newer it is, the better,” Rosenzweig says. Since most techies will already have their own state-of-the-art computer, stereo and iPod, new accessories for technology equipment works best.
A homemade, personal-type gift is an ineffective incentive for this type of person. The high-tech types wouldn’t appreciate a luncheon with fellow employees as much as they would the new iPhone.
The Introvert
The introvert doesn’t want anything public, and prefers something low key. “They still want to be appreciated, they still want to know their organization values them, but a one-on-one setting would be more appropriate,” Rosenzweig says. An appropriate gift for someone who likes to keep to themselves may be a trip to get away, a portable DVD player, magazine or DVD club subscriptions or gift certificates to major bookstores.
For this type of person, the more the manager can learn about the employee, the more effective the incentive will be, which may not be an easy task. For example, “they could be a collector, so a gift certificate to purchase an item to add to their collection would be a great gift,” Rosenzweig says. If they are family oriented, something that can be brought home and shared with the family will be valuable. Or a trip that the family can go on together, “like a weekend getaway, with a digital camera and a scrapbook kit so they can capture the experience,” she says.
You definitely don’t want to get this person anything public or social or that will create the buzz that the braggart loves. “They wouldn’t want to receive their gift in a really public setting, or receive anything that unduly calls attention to them,” Rosenzweig says. Such actions would be de-motivating rather than an incentive.
The Cultural Snob
This employee isn’t impressed with many gifts and prefers the finer things in life. Effective incentives may be fancy foods, expensive wines, a day at a high-end spa, exclusive opera tickets or even the latest New York Times best seller, provided that you can snag a signed copy to enhance the specialness of the gift. A hotel gift certificate would be appropriate, “but it would have to be an upscale hotel, like the W,” Rosenzweig says. No matter what it is, it must be high-end and exclusive. “For instance, it’s not just seats to the opera, it’s extraordinary seats with some special privilege,” Bolger says.
For the cultural snob anything that looks cheap or not thought-out won’t go over well. Tickets to sporting events may not be appreciated either. One hot option: an enrollment in a high-end wine-of-the-month club.
The Braggart
You can spot this guy a mile away. He’s the one showing off the ring he won last year for hitting the million-dollar-mark, or flashing around the watch he won during the last incentive competition.
The braggarts need people to know about their accomplishments, so a new desk organizer will most certainly not work. An incentive is useless to these guys if it doesn’t allow them to boast about their achievements to others. For this personality type the incentive needs to be “something very public that the whole company’s going to hear about,” Bolger says. These types of people want things that can be displayed in their cubicle or office, that’ll be noticed by others. This could be anything from a trophy given to them at a ceremony to something that will create a lot of excitement.
If it can’t literally be on display, then it must be something that creates a lot of buzz so people will talk about it. “Very exciting prizes, like a flat-screen TV or a car lease, if it’s a big prize,” Bolger says. When people catch wind of these gifts, they’ll surely being talking about it, giving the braggart the best gift of all – a chance to boast.
Something the employee can wear and show off also works well, such as jewelry, cuff links or a high-end watch.
Mr. and Ms. High Maintenance
Pleasing a high-maintenance employee may be hopeless, so it’s best to give him or her choices. “You’re not going to make them happy, so there are gift cards which can be redeemed at a lot of different merchants, and those tend to be nice gifts for these types of people,” Bolger says. Let these employees know that it wasn’t out of lack of sincerity that they were given this gift, but rather you wanted to give them the opportunity to get something that they really wanted. Packaging will help send that message, so package the gift certificate in a beautiful and unique way. Perhaps give a robe with a gift certificate to a spa.
Your high-maintenance employee may not like tangible gifts, and would rather go to lunch at an upscale restaurant of their choice. Because it may be difficult to acknowledge these types of employees in a way that they would value, ask how they want to be recognized.
“I would try to dig in and understand what they enjoy, and give them specialty items, one-of-a-kind things, but keeping in line with their interests,” Rosenzweig says. If the employee is a golfer, she suggests a special putter that could be signed by the golfer who designed it. “Give gifts that they would understand how rare they are, and that it’s not a common everyday gift available to many people,” she says.
For high-maintenance people “it’s about getting the award, that it works and exceeds their expectations,” Anderson says. “Better-known brands would be good.”
The Social Butterfly
These gals and guys want to be where the action is, so tickets to the hottest events are great incentives. Send this type of employee to the Super Bowl or to a World Series game. “When things like that happen, it’s party central,” Rosenzweig says, and who doesn’t want to be at the center of the excitement more than a social butterfly? Concert tickets to see the big draw of the year work great for this personality type. If you can’t offer tickets to the big events, events associated with them are valuable, too.
“These types of people want something they can share with others, so offer a big food gift where they can invite many friends, like a lobster dinner or a clambake,” Bolger says. Host a big dinner or lunch party for this employee, so others can join in the recognition. If giving a social butterfly tickets to a sporting event, give him or her four tickets, rather than two, so that it becomes even more of a social event. Give them items that they can use to socialize, like digital cameras, poker sets, personalized stationery, or items that they could use to host parties, such as serving trays or barware.
Send the office social butterfly and a few friends to the center of Hollywood’s social scene, Los Angeles, for a jet-setter trip. “Take them to Hollywood, stay at the Beverly Wilshire, do a ‘fly-away’ to Las Vegas for an evening on a private plane,” Siewert recommends. “Let them hobnob with the stars.”
Avoid gifts that are just for them, like a book or a PDA. While the hottest new phone may be appreciated, it won’t motivate the employee as much as giving the opportunity to spend time with friends will.
The Bottom Line
Of course, for any of these incentives to work, they must be perfectly matched to the recipient. “For all of these groups, something really special is to know who that person is and give them something related to what you know is their interest,” Bolger says. By deepening the personalization of the gift you can reach the ultimate goal – “having your employee say, ‘Wow, this was really important and I’m going to keep working hard because I want to receive more attention like this,’” Rosenzweig says.
Reprinted with permission of Successful Promotions, copyright 2007
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