There is a strong correlation between reward systems and employee behaviors. In this article, we want to address one aspect of this problem, and namely how employee ignition contributes to business development.
Ok, we are a few years removed from the dot.com boom and some web-based business models have fizzled. But most enterprises took advantage of the new internet tools to ignite growth spurts.
But with technological solutions now ubiquitous, what is going to drive the next wave of productivity? Where is the next spurt of value expansion going to come from? The question begs asking. There appears to be no killer app on the horizon and growth pressures fueled by rising investor expectations have not subsided.
Some pundits don’t think the next wave of growth will come from technological advancement, but rather will result from personal innovation. Richard Florida (for one) in his recent book The Rise of The Creative Class, suggests that the next wave of value creation will not come from invention but from innovation. Florida sees employee imagination as a growth catalyst.
That transforms the meaning of “application” doesn’t it? When employees apply the right side of their brains big things can happen. Want proof? Look at all those iPods (ummm… MP3 players). It was innovation that led to the commercial viability of that technology.
Related: Building Recognition Culture to Boost Employee Engagement
What does all this have to do with employee reward systems?
Compensation and reward programs set the cultural tone and can foster or undermine an employee’s emotional and intellectual commitment to the firm. Reward systems that encourage and celebrate creative exploration as a best practice are building the foundation for future growth. Employees that think of their job not simply as a place they go or a thing that they do but as their business are more likely to come up with schemes that give the organization a competitive advantage. Today ingenuity and not technology is the new value engine.
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