The document discusses engagement and motivation in the workplace. It argues that motivation alone is not enough to maximize employee performance and that engagement requires additional factors like personal goal setting, measurement, feedback and an emotionally committed system. It notes that while intrinsic motivation can drive some exceptional people like Einstein, most employees are average and benefit from extrinsic motivators combined with the right environment to engage them. The document advocates for programs that motivate employees at all performance levels and help them progress to higher levels of engagement and focus on business results through goal setting and emotional commitment.

1. Engagement 2.0
Charlie Besecker, VP Sales at IActionable
& Tim Houlihan, VP Reward Systems at BI WORLDWIDE
Motivation Motivation isn’t enough.
To maximize results you have to drive
isn’t enough. focus, personal goal setting and emotional
commitment in a system with transparent measurement
and relevant feedback.
In recent years, business writers have sold millions of books and
garnered billions of page views by expounding on how iconic
achievers like Einstein, Edison, Jobs and Hawking demonstrate
the power of engagement, commitment and intrinsic motivation.
The authors attribute the accomplishments of their subjects to
powerful systems of internal navigation. These icons eschewed the
trappings of fancy lifestyles because the pursuit and achievement of
their game-changing work were reward enough. The clever authors
imply that you can do the same – it’s all mind over matter.
Readers ought not be so gullible. Einstein, Edison, Jobs and
Hawking are by no means average. As a matter of fact, these icons
are one-in-a-billion. The rest of us are simply not like them.
But what about us? Can’t we be exceptional, too? Aren’t we unique,
just like everyone else? When it comes to engagement in a particular
task, the reader of this piece is likely to be closer to average than to
Einstein or Jobs. Sorry to burst your bubble, but that’s the reality of
it. Normal people – people who are closer to the norms – can still
deliver excellent results; however, it’s just unlikely that we’ll deliver
them at the level of an Edison or a Jobs.
Within the band of banality, however, each of us can vary the
degree to which we engage and deliver results in our respective
jobs. Sometimes it can be done through sheer force of will – classic
intrinsic motivation – but sometimes it requires a kick-starter. What
researchers find is – metaphorically speaking – that putting a little
sugar on the cereal persuades us to eat more cereal. In other words,
extrinsic motivators help engage when intrinsic motivation isn’t
enough. Engagement – and ultimately improved results – requires
extrinsic motivation.
Why does engagement matter?
Experts estimate disengagement costs $300 billion in the United
States alone every year. On the positive side, studies show that
engaged employees produce over 20% more revenue, are 43%
more productive and are 87% less likely to leave. What may surprise
you most is that, statistically speaking, only one in three of your
employees is engaged. If you don’t care about engaging the other
2/3 of your workforce, read no further.
Engagement 2.0
©BI Worldwide™ 2012

2. Engagement 2.0
1. Motivation
Basics: Moving the Middle
It’s likely that your organization is made up of a small group of
This is trickier people who are intensely engaged and a large group of people
than you might who are either ambivalent or genuinely disengaged. We cannot be
think. Just ask certain that all top performers are among the intensely engaged,
though it’s likely. What we do know about the top performers
Ben Franklin. is that they are producing more results than anyone else in the
enterprise and we want to keep them that way.
Benjamin Franklin,
To get the middle and lower parts of the curve to move toward the
another one-in-a-billion
top, behavior and cultural change are often required. The standard
icon, wrote extensively
distribution curve
about his own journey
suggests that a
towards self-improvement.
relatively equal
He developed a tool
number of top and
to track categories
poor performers
(virtues) for improvement
balance out a
(measurement) and to
weighty group of
chart his performance
average performers
(feedback). Before he
in the middle.
actually used the tool he
created, he made some The concept and
guesses as to how well graphic in Figure 1
he’d perform. When he are familiar to many.
used the scale and rated It represents a
himself candidly, he standard distribution. However performance metrics from
clearly saw he was not more than 850,000 sales professionals in North America,
as virtuous as he thought Europe, Asia and South America, indicate that this standard curve
he was. One of the most under-represents the impact that a global recession has had on
brilliant minds in history sales organizations. Employees that once occupied the lowest
was mistaken about his positions are gone – fired, laid off and weeded out. That sways
own level of performance the shape of the curve to look more like this: (Figure 2)
until he began to track
and measure it.
2 Engagement 2.0 IActionable | BI WORLDWIDE

3. Engagement 2.0
One way to look at the data from the real world is to consider the graphic below.
It represents real activity and real results – not purely theoretical concepts.
The graphic in Figure 3 summarizes the reps’
performance from eight different sales forces’ during
a 90-day period – all post-recession. The slope is
not quite as steep as it was prior to the financial
downturn– the top performers in Quintile 1 do not
outshine the other quintiles as powerfully as they
once did. The point is that the impact of top performers
on total results is less than what it once was and
less than what you probably thought it might be.
Designing an engagement program and managing
it well can improve performance across the board –
which is important if you want to maximize results.
With the proper feedback and fundamental program
design in place, sales employees at all levels of
$90.0 performance can make meaningful contributions to
$80.0 the aggregate results. In the results seen in figure 4,
$70.0
motivation from a specific, non-monetary incentive
$60.0
drove remarkable results. Similar outcomes have
$50.0
$40.0
been replicated hundreds of times.
$30.0
The incremental revenues show that motivation
$20.0
$10.0
can take place at all levels along the performance
$ 0.0 curve. Furthermore the greatest gains (not just
percentages, but net revenues) can be obtained by
designing for the entire audience rather than only
the top performers.
2. Engagement
Some consider engagement an all or nothing situation. It’s not that.
Engagement allows for degrees of expressing commitment to the organization.
It might be helpful to visualize engagement as if it were an elevator in a 10-story
building. Some employees will be willing and able to rise all the way to the
top floor. But not everyone will get there. In a typical organization, even one
with well-designed engagement initiatives, some employees will only make it
to the seventh floor, or the fifth, or the second. To maximize motivation and
engagement, an organization must tailor communication and feedback to the
right floor. A message that resonates with a second-floor employee won’t be
meaningful to someone on the seventh floor. To help people move to higher
floors requires commitment and transparency, as well as relevant rules, rewards
feedback and communication.
Of course any upward movement requires a solid foundation. Without
meaningful work, competitive pay, opportunities for growth and adequate
working conditions, the elevator will never get off the ground.
3 Engagement 2.0 IActionable | BI WORLDWIDE

4. Engagement 2.0
Park your The Engagement Elevator.
illusions at the In your organization, every person will be starting the journey up the
engagement elevator from a different floor. The objective should
side of the road. not be to get everyone to the top floor. Aim instead for providing
opportunities for your people to move up a floor or two at a time.
The key differentiators between floors are:
People are complex.
The brightest researchers Motivation. The first few floors are
have been studying purely about providing a motivational
human behavior and environment for people. To paraphrase
decision-making for R. Buckminster Fuller: “Don’t change
decades and still are the person; change the environment.”
confounded. The And that’s just what offering up
trouble is often this: opportunities for motivation is about.
if we don’t like the Short-term incentives, spiffs, short-term
theory, we immediately bonuses, project recognition and
consider ourselves an relevant feedback make an
(appropriate) exception. environment motivational. These tools
send the message to your people that
This is because most of
there are opportunities to be recognized
us are squarely, solidly in
for incremental effort. For those who
the norm, even though
are just getting started, a motivational
we’d prefer to imagine
environment needs to be relevant to
ourselves to be the
their needs as a novice, so tailoring
next Jobs or Einstein or
the tools to their situation will help
Franklin. Most of the time
maximize impact.
we are not the exception.
One study found that The low end of a typical sales force
92% of all drivers believe was commonly thought to be the
they’re in the top 50%. bottom 30%. With the dramatic
Apparently most of the economic changes of recent years,
drivers in the lower 50% however, the bottom segment is now
harbor the illusion that far narrower, between 10% and 15%
they’re in the upper 50%. of the total. There’s no tolerance for
poor performers, especially with so
Before you launch a new
many eligible and eager sales
engagement initiative,
professionals waiting in the wings.
take time to unearth any
Typically this group is comprised of newbies – where incremental
similar illusions lurking in
motivation will have the greatest impact.
your organization. Then
leave them by the side Engagement. Above and beyond a simply motivational
of the road. That way, environment lie the floors where engagement happens.
you can work on driving These are the levels where employees are living and flourishing
toward that incremental in the motivational culture you’ve created and contributing more
profit that is characteristic because of their intrinsic desires than simply responding to the
of companies with highly motivational tools around them. On the lower engagement floors,
engaged employees. the employees are starting to see the connection between what
4 Engagement 2.0 IActionable | BI WORLDWIDE

5. Engagement 2.0
they do and the successes of the organization. Further up the
Engagement Elevator, reps are filling their calendars with meetings
and projects – a combination of short-term and long-term activities
that all support the enterprise’s long-term objectives.
In the old economy, this middle group was commonly thought
to occupy 60% of the sales force. Today, it’s somewhere in the
75% range. Within this group there can be variances in levels of
engagement and delineation between high-mid, low-mid and
middle-mid. Overall this group is growing and needing help with
Most people mix up the connection between their ability to engage (beyond simple
the relationship between motivation) and the environment they’re engaging in (your company).
happiness (work
Results. The top floors are reserved for those who practice
satisfaction) and good
a sort of alchemy when combining the tools of motivation and
work (strong performance).
engagement while delivering excellent results. Their performance
Most managers believe
has typically reached high levels because they have internalized
that if you make people
the way motivation works in their lives and their jobs. They’ve gone
happy with pizza parties
beyond the basics of motivation and figured out how they can
and cheery signs in
engage at superior levels and work for a company that reciprocates
the cafeteria, they will
with an environment that allows them to thrive.
become better workers.
The correlation is These people were once considered the top 1% - 2% of the
backwards. Research organization and they were frequently promoted out of the jobs they
conducted by were doing exceptionally well. Today, we observe top performers
Cynthia Fisher, PhD, on the Results floors occupying more than 10% of the sales
while at Bond University population. Those who are near the top end of the Engagement
in Brisbane notes that the group can be coaxed onto the Results floors through incremental
key driver of happiness support in aligning their jobs with corporate objectives.
on the job is meaningful
work. If your people have
good work to do, rather
3. Results
than mundane tasks Bridging the Gap
with no relevance to the Between Engagement and Results
company’s mission, Understanding how to engage employees is a significant step but
they’re much more likely it’s not the final step in moving toward results. The final step is to
to be engaged. Try giving understand how to both leverage and focus engagement to produce
your team the kind of tangible business results. Does engagement inherently and
work that counts, automatically produce tangible business results? Not necessarily.
connect them to the Employees can be engaged but not focused – perhaps they want
bigger goals of the to help but don’t understand the best way to do so. Conversely
enterprise, and see employees can be focused and motivated but not engaged –
what happens. perhaps they’re driven solely by personal ambitions and not at all
by a desire to see your organization succeed. Delivering results
on a consistent basis requires focused engagement, emotional
commitment and oftentimes, individual goal setting. There are
three keys to moving the meter from the merely engaged to the
results side of the equation. Here’s how you get more employees
to ride the engagement elevator all the way to the top.
5 Engagement 2.0 IActionable | BI WORLDWIDE

6. Engagement 2.0
1. Help them set goals.
All organizations are looking for employees who go above and beyond
for both themselves and the organization. When goals are missed or
things don’t go according to plan, how do your employees react? Are they
indifferent or do they seek a solution? If your employees were truly engaged,
the latter would be the case. Try giving your teams the ability to set specific
goals. Sales people who reach their goals for the day/week/month may then
slack off simply because they weren’t engaged in the process of setting the
goals. How often do you see average level performers hit cruise control
once they’ve achieved the goal you assigned them? Allowing your team
to self-select their goals (often short-term goals in support of the larger,
strategic initiatives) will enhance their execution every day.
How can assigned goals sabotage performance? A recent study found that
cab drivers in New York City work fewer hours on rainy days when there are
more fares to be had than on sunny days. Even though we all think we want
to make as much as we can, the truth is, we set income goals all the time,
almost unconsciously. And these goals are really powerful. The cab drivers
admitted to researchers that they had goals for average daily income. Sure
enough, once those goals were achieved, they were likely to call it quits, even
on a rainy day when there was more money to be made. Their irrational
selves took over and suspended normal effort (since they didn’t even work
a full shift).
Don’t falter under the illusion that your people are different – they aren’t.
You’ll need to appeal to their desire to set their own goals. But you’ll also
need to make the goal-setting process intentional and mindful, rather than
unconscious, to get to the Holy Grail of engagement and results.
2. Get them emotionally engaged.
Every organization has a few top-tier employees who are engaged and
regularly exercise discretionary effort to go above and beyond. Where
business can dramatically impact overall productivity via engagement is
to “move the middle” by exporting the top-tier of engagement tools to the
majority. With mechanisms such as regular feedback, objective measures
and reminders of the big picture, organizations can export the mentality of
engagement the same way a good Super Bowl ad keeps us talking for days
after the event: by resonating with the emotions of the audience. Emotional
commitment to the task, the team, or the organization leads to engagement
as the norm rather than engagement as the exception.
Moving the middle often begins by offering an emotionally charged reward
in exchange for short-term increases in productivity, sales, or profits. The
most effective rewards have high emotional content (referred to as “hedonic”
by the academics) and will be talked about with family and friends (known
as “sociability”). These rewards might include earning badges, collecting
points, competing in a stack ranking, public recognition, team building, or
6 Engagement 2.0 IActionable | BI WORLDWIDE

7. Engagement 2.0
participating in sales rallies. Emotional aspects of the rewards are likely to be
personal, including your personal dreams and aspirations or things you can
share with your friends and loved ones. Ironically, this endeavor to enhance
our own lives results in greater emotional commitment to the enterprise. The
more events – either personal rewards or public recognition for performance
– that build up for a person, the more likely they are to reciprocate their
emotional engagement sponsored by the firm. Fundamentally, engagement
can be learned. When we practice and repeat higher levels of performance
– even if for short-term rewards or feedback – we strengthen underused
muscles so that long-term results are easier to achieve.
3. Measure for success.
Even after everything herein has been accomplished you still could have
a mass of highly energized and engaged employees that can’t make it
happen. This brings us to the notion of focused vs. unfocused engagement.
Enter management. Effective management understands the business
down to line-level detail; yet most often such detail is enforced from a punitive
standpoint rather than from an engagement standpoint. Metric-based
engagement takes all of the concepts described and applies them not just
to overall job performance but also to specific metrics that make employees
truly successful. The most effective measures include two elements:
objectivity and relevance.
Objectivity is often defined in terms of transparency, which is a good thing.
Trust in the numbers impacts performance – the higher the trust, the more
likely a sales rep is to push a little bit harder. Recently, a pharmaceutical
company acknowledged their data was only good +/- 3% yet they made no
accommodations to allow for achievers within that margin of error. In very
short order, reps near the margin simply gave up because they didn’t believe
in the data.
Relevance, in this context, means having an impact on your organization or
its people. Measures must be known to be relevant – if no one knows about
it, it isn’t relevant. To make your metrics relevant, link them to the strategic
objectives of the business unit or corporation. Communicate them clearly.
And use rewards and feedback to recognize those who achieve. When
the regional manager recognizes a rep at a team meeting for achieving
(especially) a new measure, little bursts of dopamine are released in that
rep’s brain and others in the room automatically connect to their desire to
have that happen to them. Relevant feedback acts as the foundation for this
experience to happen.
7 Engagement 2.0 IActionable | BI WORLDWIDE

8. Engagement 2.0
Summary
It’s not enough to simply communicate the value of one’s role within an
organization – employees must understand how their daily actions contribute
to their positional success and then understand how success in their position
leads to overall corporate success. They’ll do best when they’re reminded
regularly through reliable, transparent feedback mechanisms such as helping
them focus on good measures, good goals and the emotional currency of
the enterprise. These are the tools that allow employees to jump up a floor
in the engagement elevator – knowing their objectives and that their efforts
are recognized.
Since the middle section of average performers makes up the largest percentage
of your sales force, charge after them first. Develop and implement systems that
give them the opportunity to move up the engagement elevator with challenges
and rewards that are relevant to them, not just the top performers.
Bring engagement from a high, abstract concept to a relevant level that is both
measurable and achievable – and you’ll turn the nebulous concept of employee
engagement into tangible business results.
About the Authors
Charlie Besecker is a founder of the enterprise Gamification company,
IActionable. Charlie has designed and built over 50 sales teams for
start-up to INC 500 to Fortune 500 organizations around the globe.
Having hired, trained and managed over 350 people he has unique insight
into the people, process and technologies that drive enterprise sales. For the
past three years Charlie has been applying this expertise to pioneer the
use of Gamification in the workplace.
As Vice President of Rewards Systems for BI WORLDWIDE,
Tim Houlihan applies behavioral economics to help multinational
companies achieve their desired results. He has worked for more
than 25 years developing behavioral-based initiatives and leverages
technology for the purpose of helping clients improve their results.
You can follow Tim on Twitter at @THoulihan.
8 Engagement 2.0 IActionable | BI WORLDWIDE