Knowledge
Are Employees Gaming Your Incentive Program?
Nov 29, 2011 by Confero Inc.
People tend to do those things for which they are rewarded. To encourage employees to provide the customer service promised to our customers, employee incentive and recognition programs are put into place to reward employees who engage in desired behaviors or who achieve specific outcomes.
Desired behaviors can be measured by mystery shopping programs, manager reports, audits, customer feedback measures and performance reviews. Specific outcomes can be measured by sales amounts, referral numbers and the like.
No incentive program is perfect and, over time, sometimes employees figure out a way around the system to “earn” the incentive. In other words, sometimes employees “game the system”.
Here are some common games we see. We hope they help you in planning to avoid them.
The Game: Trick the Technology
If an organization uses technology alone to measure key service metrics and reward performance with incentives, the system is usually an easy target for gaming the system.
The modify the order trick. A mystery shopper overheard a training conversation at the first of two drive through windows at a quick service restaurant. When the mystery shopper attempted to hand the employee payment, the mystery shopper heard the trainer saying “No, never just accept the payment. Always be sure to click on Modify Order then click Ok before you accept the customer’s payment. This will restart the timer on our transactions so our service times will look good.”
The ring up single items as multiples trick. At a grocery store checkout, the cashier entered a fresh bagel purchase as
Get to Know the QR Code
Nov 29, 2011 by Confero Inc.
Are QR codes confusing to you? They were confusing to us at first, too. Mostly, we found them confusing because, at Confero, we use the term Quality Review (QR) to refer to our detailed process of quality assurance for each mystery shopping or audit report. We are now getting used to seeing “QR” (Quick Response) codes everywhere. If you have customers who have Smartphones, “QR Code” is a good term to understand.
QR codes are those odd looking square patterns that seem to be cropping up everywhere. If you have not noticed one, look at most any print magazine ad and you’ll find one easily.
Here’s how they work:
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Employee Incentive and Rewards Ideas
Jul 28, 2011 by Confero Inc.
Our experience in employee recognition and on-the-spot rewards in different industries has opened our eyes to the creative ideas introduced by our clients and our client services team.
This idea is one of our favorites. The Raleigh-Durham Airport Authority (RDUAA), a long time client, honors associates who score 100% on the mystery shops Confero conducts at the RDU airport. The airport authority changes the gift over time and tracks which employee receives which item, so that the award item is always fresh and
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Is Valuable Customer Insight Hiding in your Spreadsheets?
Jul 28, 2011 by Confero Inc.
If your company collects customer feedback, comment cards, store visit or field audit report information in spreadsheets, you may be missing out on the information’s maximum value. Comparisons and correlations of the data collected provide key insights that you may miss if the information is hidden inside multiple spreadsheets managed by multiple people. Here’s a prime example:
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Five Key Considerations for Customer Surveys
Jul 28, 2011 by Confero Inc.
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Audience: Consider the audience for your survey. Are you striving for opinions from all customers and target markets? Or would you like to hone in on a particular age segment, such as young adults? Once you select your audience, define your objectives with your target in mind, then craft the survey questions. For a survey that pins down the most valuable data, companies customize question wording, selection, and survey length to best fit the audience.
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Approach: Based on your target audience, choose the appropriate survey delivery method, including mail, email, phone, online, or a combination. Older respondents may prefer mail surveys, and may be more willing to complete a longer survey. Busy professionals, on the other hand, may prefer to respond to a five-question survey via mobile device. If you want to reach all segments, offer the survey through different mediums.
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