PowerPlay

Common corporate belief has long held that incentive programs are strictly to achieve incremental lift in sales over a specific period. However, although the results are an increase in profitability, corporations haven’t seen long-term gains in productivity or profitability. Why? Because they haven’t made a shift in company culture.

The world has changed greatly over the last 20 years, and so has the way consumers want to engage with brands. Consumers today have become incredibly sophisticated in product and service research. They used to depend strictly on publications and periodicals. But now they can read actual customer reviews through sites like Yelp. And those reviews often highlight what’s going on with a corporation’s culture.

A company’s culture reflects how it does business both internally with its employees and externally with its clients. However, many company cultures have not evolved to match how customers want to engage—in fact, they’re not realizing that their very employees are also consumers who expect certain ways of being treated. Because many companies aren’t living up to those expectations, the result is a lack of employee engagement. People find themselves with a job when they want a career. The Gallup State of the Workplace report for 2022 found that, globally, 60 percent of people are emotionally detached at work, and 19 percent are miserable. In the U.S. and Canada, only 33 percent of employees were engaged in what they do, 41 percent were experiencing daily worry, 50 percent were experiencing daily stress, 18 percent were experiencing daily anger, and 22 percent were experiencing daily sadness. In truth, many of these feelings often stem from a “fear management” culture in business—which leads people to fear speaking up or asking questions, which then creates job dissatisfaction.

EACH COMPANY’S CULTURE IS UNIQUE

PowerPlay Corporation, a global incentive and rewards company, leverages its 20 years of experience to help companies across all industries create a positive culture through purposeful employee recognition programs that energize and incentivize employees. The results are increased employee engagement and improved sales and customer satisfaction.

Although many companies, deep down, want to “do the right thing,” they have felt that choice is impractical because of stockholder pressure for valuations and profitability. As it turns out, though, long-term effects of a healthy culture can increase both of those things over time, as well as increase employee engagement, leading to better retention and loyalty.

There is no one-size-fits-all solution. But PowerPlay is working to help its clients recognize that an evolution is needed beyond a focus on just an incremental lift in sales to one on intrinsic and extrinsic values.

While continuing to collaborate with clients on sales incentives, PowerPlay is increasing its strategic-development side to improve employee and associate engagement. To do this, the company has taken on a “Be Bold. Be Different.” mantra. If a business wants to achieve long-term engagement change, it quite literally needs to see it and feel it. PowerPlay is helping clients remove “fear management” and install trust and open communications. Incentives now work as a means for managers to communicate a “You Matter” experience. And when it works, associates can communicate to management a “You Matter” experience as well.

Motivation May Get You To A Number, But Inspiration Changes Everything

A TWO-LEVEL APPROACH

This places PowerPlay in two distinct categories. First as a top-notch supplier of incentive programs. Well-versed in successful points-based programs and travel. Second, working as consultative partners, creating and introducing long-term strategies to help improve company culture initiatives to create additional engagement. They combine all of that with incentives (intrinsic and extrinsic) to shift behaviors, remove fear, and increase corporate communication to become more relevant.

Of course, generational influences can dictate certain culture shifts, but as the younger generations come into leadership positions, PowerPlay believes companies will experience a whole new world of engagement, which includes employees and associates becoming real company and product advocates for the companies they work with.

WHY POWERPLAY DOES WHAT IT DOES

“We do spend a great deal of time asking, ‘WHY are we doing what we are doing?’” noted Jay Fox, President and CEO of PowerPlay Corp. “We also felt this had to be embedded in our own company culture, and it is. Frankly, our internal communication has changed over the last couple of years. It also affects the way we engage with our clients, how we drive solutions that create better experiences. It is not always easy, but maintaining the status quo really means doing the same thing over and over, whether it is relevant or not. Now we feel like we are truly investing in our clients.”

“Without people, technology means nothing.” – Steve Jobs

Company culture is “how you do what you do,” and that means how you treat each other in meetings, email, and texts, and in the frequency, tone, and length of your communications.

We live in an age of diversity and inclusion. Which means more than ethnicity; it is about different cultures, experiences, and personal status, and the more diversity of participation a company can get, the broader the audience they’ll be able to reach. The days of hanging out a suggestion box are over. That is not engagement. Participation is. Great ideas come from everywhere, and all ideas should be welcome.

“Treat employees like they make a difference, and they will.” – Jim Goodnight

Incentives that play the “Do this, get that” game can actually do a disservice to the culture. An inspired workforce will see incentives as a benefit, not the reason to get the job done.

At its heart PowerPlay is a nimble company, looking for ways to make a difference. Imagine if employee engagement were at 100 percent, with people not only engaged but practicing intrinsic values like empathy, real teamwork, real mentorship, and communicating without fear. That may seem like a tall order, but Fox likes to remind us that everyone at some point had a job or experience when they felt needed, respected, and wanted. In other words, when they mattered. He notes, “Motivation may get you to a number, but inspiration changes everything.”

Maybe Fox is onto something here. It might not be as far-fetched as we think.

To learn more about PowerPlay, contact Jay Fox at Jay@ powerplaycorp.com