Flying over middle America recently, I overheard a young child ask her mother as she peered out the window, “Mommy, why are there all those circles down there?”
I couldn’t help but look out and notice the crops planted in circles within squares. I was curious enough to do a little of my own research as to why crops in the American Midwest often appear as in this Google Earth image at right.
The answer is simple enough: Crops are planted in circles to maximize irrigation via a center pivot system.
At first, from my 30,000-foot perspective it looked like farmers where not fully utilizing the acreage available to them, sacrificing the “corners” for greater yields in the circles. But my quick Google research told me such a system actually yields greater results with more water-intensive crops such as corn planted within the irrigation circle while crops needing less water (e.g., wheat) are planted in the corners. Then this very informative post by Jim Earl further taught me farmers often squeeze other needed resources into those corners. In the picture above, those purple rectangles in the corners are manure collection pools from nearby animal farms to be used for crop fertilization.
What does all this have to do with employees, compensation and total rewards? I learned 3 lessons applicable to compensation and total rewards.
1) “Sacrifices” made for better results often create unexpected opportunities for more yield in the end.
City dwellers like me probably assume switching from a rectangular field to a circle means eliminating possible crop yields from the “corners” of the field. The same is often true for HR Pros who are considering changing their employee recognition practices. For example, when first working with organizations on developing strategic employee recognition programs, I often hear concerns like: “We can’t eliminate our attendance program. Employees count on that.”
Since attendance programs result in little more than paying employees to show up at work sick, I tend to believe these can be “sacrificed” for better use of the program spend on recognition and rewards efforts that reinforce what really matters – the core values and strategic objectives of the organization.
2) Some employees thrive under different conditions than others.
Like my 30,000 foot view of the circle crop fields, we often fail to see the details because we are too far away. The “corners” of the circle fields are not sacrificed, but instead are used for a better purpose. For example, some employees work better under more direct supervision and oversight with constant, personal interaction with team members and colleagues. Others are far more effective working from home or remote offices where they can concentrate without interruption. Wise managers and organization leaders create an environment that can sustain both types of employees. In fact, doing so results in far more productive workers and better “yields.”
3) It’s necessary to leave room for resources that “fuel” productivity.
In some cases, farmers choose to not plant every square inch with crops, but preserve some area for the fertilizer to help the crops grow even more abundantly. Will the crops grow without the fertilizer? Yes, but not as well. The same is true of your employees. They don’t require recognition of their efforts to do their jobs. But letting employees know you notice and appreciate their work certainly does fuel their motivation and engagement, boosting productivity.
A final parting thought from Jim Earl’s post referenced above. In it he cites an old farmer discussing plowing with horses in an English Village in the 1920s:
“Each man ploughed in his own fashion and with his own mark. A farmer could walk on a field ploughed by ten different teams and tell which bit was ploughed by which. Sometimes he would pay a penny an acre extra for perfect ploughing. The men worked perfectly to get this, but they also worked perfectly because it was their work. It belonged to them. It was theirs.”
Do you think “outside the square” for how to best utilize your recognition and total rewards resources for your employees?
As Globoforce’s Head of Strategic Consulting, Derek Irvine is an internationally minded management professional with over 20 years of experience helping global companies set a higher ambition for global strategic employee recognition, leading workshops, strategy meetings and industry sessions around the world. His articles on fostering and managing a culture of appreciation through strategic recognition have been published in Businessweek, Workspan and HR Management. Derek splits his time between Dublin and Boston. Follow Derek on Twitter at @DerekIrvine.
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