By Michelle M. Smith, CPIM, CRP, Member, Board of Directors, Recognition Professionals International
It feels like we’ve been barraged with media reports that include cringe-inducing videos that appear to be classic examples of wasteful government spending. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is the latest agency in the hot seat with recent training videos that parodied The Apprentice, Star Trek, and Gilligan’s Island. Last year, it was the General Services Administration (GSA) that was the object of taxpayer outrage with its scandal-ridden “Hats Off” incentive and recognition program.
News reports seem to imply that training or incentive programs of any kind are excessive and unjustifiable. While there’s no question that Congress has the right to probe these agencies’ use and management of their programs—especially when they are part of broader reports about the mismanagement of funds by the officials in charge—the media all too often impugn the use of these important business tools as ways to improve employee behavior and stimulate productivity.
One Bad Example Hurts All
Wasteful spending aside, what’s most upsetting about these examples is the damage they do to the legitimate and vitally important training and recognition industries. While we all support the government’s investigations into the mismanagement at the IRS and GSA, there’s a legitimate concern that organizations that provide or purchase these services will be the ultimate losers in this debacle.
Too often, people and business leaders tend to dismiss an entire industry when they see one bad example splashed in the headlines. Further adding insult to injury, public opinion turns against the industry, assuming that all programs in these businesses are suspect, making it harder for reputable firms to overcome the misconceptions and continue to deliver valuable business services.
The reality is that properly crafted and executed training and recognition programs are highly effective and provide overwhelmingly positive value. Neither the IRS nor GSA programs are typical in any way of what any self-respecting training or recognition provider would ever create because the government lacked the essential program elements of proper design and oversight.
Well-designed training and recognition programs are based on the skillful blend of both artistic and scientific principles that long have proven to lead to the outcomes the programs were created to achieve. Reputable providers in either industry know success is incumbent on setting clear and reasonable goals, effectively designing all the program elements to work together toward those goals, establishing built-in performance controls, and meticulously tracking and measuring progress against the goals.
Don’t Underestimate the Benefits
There are vast libraries of research and data that unquestionably extol the many virtues of well-run training and recognition programs to improve business outcomes. Some of these benefits include:
- Increasing productivity
- Boosting morale
- Enhancing quality
- Fostering teamwork
- Decreasing absenteeism
- Improving work habits
- Increasing product/service knowledge
- Ensuring safety
- Rewarding loyalty
- Attracting and retaining skilled employees
- Engaging participants
Additionally, training and recognition programs are both effective in improving employee engagement levels in the workplace. Decades of research by the Gallup Organization (download PDF graphic at the end of this article) have discovered the almost unprecedented bottom-line value of having an engaged workforce, and any leader worth his or her salt should be actively supporting—and investing in—training and recognition programs to sustain and increase the employee engagement scores in their companies.
The important thing to remember is that the problems at the IRS and GSA revolve around the lack of proper program management and oversight, and can’t be construed as a valid indictment of the enormous value of either training or recognition programs. Smart leaders know this, but they may have to be more resolute in their support for these critical business tools in the near term.
Training and recognition professionals will continue to craft well-constructed, reasonably priced programs that deliver outstanding results and real value, in spite of the bad examples that leak out of Washington. And we can all only hope for news organizations that will be more balanced in their coverage, offering examples of successful alternatives for every mismanaged program they uncover.
Michelle M. Smith, CPIM, CRP, is on the Board of Directors at Recognition Professionals International (http://www.Recognition.org), an industry association dedicated solely to improving and advancing employee recognition and rewards in the workplace. She may be reached at info@recognition.org
