Adam Sidbury, Executive Director at Grass Roots highlights the challenges of trying to make a one size incentive programme fit across the world.
As the world continues to shrink, an increasing number of multi-national organisations are trying to centralise a larger proportion of what they do locally, into either a regional hub or their global HQ. Not only can this lead to substantial cost savings and efficiencies, but it also means that organisations can do things ‘their way’ rather than re-invent the wheel many times over. A consistent approach in line with company culture is the goal.
However the challenge is to make sure that the theory can work in practice; that the central plan can be effectively realised on the ground, in the local culture. We have all heard horror stories of how global HQ has dictated to their employees on the other side of the world that ‘this is how it must be done’ only to find that a literal interpretation leads to a local disaster and ultimately lost sales, lost staff or even going out of business.
A short journey around the globe shows that while IT systems can, to a certain extent, be made to operate consistently from the centre, there always needs to be a more local touch when it comes to communication and the provision of rewards and incentives; whether these are targeted at employees, customers or distribution partners. Whilst you might, in some organisations, get away with all-staff communications in English (and even that’s not for sure) you will need to talk to your customers in their local language or dialect if you want to create a strong relationship. And if you sell through distribution channels, human nature is such that you are just going to get a better response if your communication is well crafted in the local language. The only time that you can confidently rely on English is a corporate message to high ranking country managers.
To illustrate the difference, let’s take two extremes: The United States of America and The People’s Republic of China. In the US, a Florida based provider of merchant card services has recently run an incentive programme to recruit new retailers to take their card services packages. Their “No Merchant Victims” campaign features a “Free Gun” incentive (this is true by the way) to encourage merchants to stand their ground and protect themselves. A package that includes enhanced card security features and medical cover for the retailers also contains a voucher that can be taken to a local gun retailer and exchanged for an AK-47 assault rifle. Although the basic package, concept and approach may be sound, it is hard to imagine this particular incentive being replicated in many other markets! My colleagues in Bejing advise me in no uncertain terms, that a similar approach in China is likely to arouse the interest of the Communist Party- not an avenue most companies would wish to open. A more culturally relevant and appropriate incentive might be a jade pendant with the shape of Maitreya Buddha, to “avoid evil spirits” or protect people from robbery. The merchant in downtown Miami, given the choice, would probably stick with the gun.
Your Swedish distribution partner may be part of a Europe-wide sales drive and if successful would be happy to receive a Crayfish Party package as a reward. On opening the package he/she will discover boiled crayfishes, all the beer and schnapps you can drink, bread, cheese, funny hats, decorations and so on. ‘Just open the box and start the party…’
In Spain however, the preference would be for something more like a fine leg of ham, Jamón Ibérico, quite possibly with a unique leg shaped stand to hold it and a knife to carve it.The focus might still be on the stomach, but it is delivered with a local flavour.
Many organisations have employee recognition schemes in place which allow another member of staff or a manager to nominate a colleague for going beyond the call of duty – doing something pretty exceptional in line with the company values. Increasingly, multi-nationals want to roll these out globally in order to allow teams working together in different countries to participate and to get the economies and efficiencies talked about earlier. However, whilst the system and process can be consistent, the rewards should be local. In Australia, my colleagues tell me that the Dr SkudFlyswatter, and the Suck UK Fridge Magnet Bottle Opener are the hot tickets of the moment, while in Canada it is the edible fruit basket. Make of that what you will!
A final example, popular in many countries, is the ‘money can’t buy’ super-experience. These often make good headlines for consumer competitions and promotions and are frequently used as prizes within organisations. In the Netherlands, one such competition has a computer that decides at any random moment who will receive the mystery incentive. The winner receives a choice from many spectacular incentives such as flying in a MIG jet, driving a F1 car, a new kitchen, a Harley Davidson, a small car, advice from a garden architect or a horse! (In this example the competition provider received a visit from the Dutch animal protection society to check whether there was a horse in their warehouse and whether they were taking good care of it…again I kid you not!). Contrast these European prizes with ones offered in Mexico: swimming with whale sharks up to 18 metres long in the Yucatán Peninsula, and an excursion on the Tequila Express! Okay so some of the differences here are down to geography, but you get the point.
Of course there is one thing that every incentive, gift, reward, and recognition item must have in common wherever you are: it needs to conform to the law. And that law is local, even varying within some countries depending upon which state you are in. So although conformance to local law is a pre-requisite, it has regrettably been overlooked in the past, even by some of the world’s largest organisations. One example is that of Munich Re, the world’s largest reinsurance company, which admitted it used prostitutes to reward staff after details of a sex party were discovered by a concerned shareholder. The party was held in the Hungarian capital Budapest for top performing salesmen of the insurance company’s Ergo division at the height of the 2007 economic bubble. Twenty escorts were hired for the event and required to wear colour-coded armbands. Red for hostesses who were available for flirting but who did not perform sex acts. Yellow armbands were given to women available for sex and a select few at the orgy wore white arm brands to signify they were available only to executives and top salesmen. In a bizarre example of German efficiency, the Ergo executives are reported to have insisted the women have their forearms stamped to indicate how many sex acts they had performed that night with the group. And they say the Germans are a dour bunch.
That’s enough of that… And if you don’t believe it, just try Googling or Binging ‘Munch Re Sex Party’ and you will see it covered in many of the finest newspapers.It will come as no surprise that the executives concerned were subsequently fired.
So, however hard you may try, one size fits all is clearly just a dream. And long may it remain so. Yes, efficiency is important, but the world would be a very boring place if everything had to work the same way from Seattle to Sydney via Strasbourg.