A favourite quote of mine, attributed to Henry Ford, is: “If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses.”

This quote perfectly illustrates the dangers of just asking people what they want when thinking of new solutions – and it is very much relevant in the world of reward today.

In recent conversations with different clients, the topic of using employee opinion to inform reward interventions has come up several times. Whether it is in the context of pay structure design, benefits reviews or launching a new recognition scheme, the conversations keep coming back to the same question: “How can we make sure this works for employees?”

The problem is that the knee-jerk reaction to answer this question more often than not is “well, why don’t we just ask them what they want”. This is the wrong starting point and it is likely to lead you to the wrong answer. Here’s why.

Limited (in)sights

First, by focusing on what employees think the solution is, rather than the actual problem, you could be restricting the number of options that may address the issues at hand. Or even worse, you could actually end up focusing on the wrong things altogether.

A very relevant example relates to pay levels for employees in the lowest level of salaries. Rightly so, organisations are prioritising this group of employees for intervention and protection.

However, when you ask these employees how you could address their financial concerns the answers primarily involve higher pay.

In contrast, if you were to focus more on identifying the reasons that cause financial distress, you may find that pay increases are not the only solution. In this particular situation we have found that offering access to emergency finance to fund unexpected expenditure (e.g. broken boiler, failed MOT) can provide some welcome relief.

Keeping it real

Another limitation of asking people what they want is that, let’s face it, we may not always know what we want – or, if we do, we may not be able to articulate it properly. This is why asking about past experiences rather than hypothetical scenarios can provide much more meaningful insights to guide future decisions about reward and recognition.

For instance, what comes to mind if you think about how you would like to be recognised?

Now, try thinking instead of things your manager or colleagues have done in the past that made you feel recognised. See the difference?

By tapping into what has made people feel a certain way, rather than their expectations, you will get a much better idea of what may make a difference for employees.

Great expectations

And therein also lies the final issue with asking people what they want. The answers to this question can automatically create expectations which, if not met, can impact negatively on an employee’s motivation and overall engagement.

We see this happening often when organisations ask their employees what benefits they would like to have. Some of the opinions provided by employees could reflect potentially unrealistic expectations.

Instead, gaining insights into what employees do with their free time or how they spend their discretionary income can give you a much better idea of which benefits are likely to be more valued.

For instance, if you see that a significant proportion of employees do volunteer work in their spare time or they’re spending money on dental care or fitness equipment, you have a clear indicator that providing benefits in these areas is the way to go.

Otherwise you may end up going down the route of offering discounts (which could be perceived as random or irrelevant by employees), or access to leisure experiences that, whilst good on paper, fail to gain traction. We have seen this happen.

In our work with clients we pride ourselves in bringing innovative thinking not only to the bespoke solutions we provide, but also to how we arrive at these solutions. Asking the right questions is how we start.

Does this sound like something you would like to talk about? Get in touch.

Juan Novoa, Consulting Lead at QCG - February 2021