Comments on: Carrots Suck, Give Me Bacon

By: Social Meat-eat-a

Social Meat-eat-a — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 07:57:44 +0000

Back in corporate land I had a buddy who was confronted by a Senior VP on an elevator ride and asked if he had any out-of-the-box business process ideas that day (the incentive program fad at the time). My buddy was so nervous he nearly broke wind and all week he would dwell on the things he should have said in those next 20 seconds, but didn’t think of at the moment.

The point is this guy is Mr. Idea Man but no one in the elevator (including hyper VP man) would ever know because this VP came at him like Freddie Kruger. Furthermore the whole business processes process was basically reserved for the type-A hoorah kind of people that could leave their real jobs and not be missed.

Give ‘em bacon but don’t make them choke on it; incentives and bacon need to be dished out in a suitable setting and put in everyone’s reach.

Great article…

By: HR Carnival « Entry HR Blog

HR Carnival « Entry HR Blog — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 01:06:31 +0000

[...] Ruettimann’s Punk Rock HR with a guest post from Lance Haun on the sad and true adage – Carrots Suck, Give Me Bacon. Not wishing to alienate the vegans among us, just read it. It is not only hilarious, it’s [...]

By: fran melmed

fran melmed — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 00:06:11 +0000

so, i’m now intrigued to hear laurie’s POV on wellness programs! i can only imagine…

By: Derek Irvine, Globoforce

Derek Irvine, Globoforce — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 16:27:06 +0000

Great post. I prefer bangers (that’s sausage to the non-Irish). Seriously, “incentive programs are often used as a replacement for solid leadership” — brilliant!

You want to bribe your employees to do good work? Offer an incentive program structure.

But if you want them to work hard on your top priorities because they WANT to, then recognize them for the good work they do to show them how much you appreciate them and how valuable they are to the organization.

I couldn’t agree with you more on why incentives fail: http://globoforce.blogspot.com/2009/04/why-incentives-fail.html

By: Rich

Rich — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 14:07:00 +0000

Funny article, it reminds us that keeping it simple works best!!
Lead by example, be sincere, mentor and recognize achievement!!!

By: David

David — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 15:04:39 +0000

Great posting! Recognition should be driven by inspiration not competition. The carrot on a stick means no light at the end of the tunnel….not an inspiring way to motivate!

By: Productivity Guy

Productivity Guy — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 19:00:57 +0000

Lance, business objectives of the article aside, I love bacon and hate carrots. I’ve grown to like other veggies but carrots are not one them. Carrots are so nasty that bacon-wrapped carrots would even be a stretch (though certainly tastier until you get to the crunchy center).

By: mouse

mouse — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 02:41:47 +0000

Everything is better IN bacon, not with. mmmm bacon.

By: Lance

Lance — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 02:24:24 +0000

@HR Mark – Shhhh, I eat carrot cake.

@Kerry – Seriously. It is one of many things that businesses can use.

@Chris – No U!

@April – Hey, no problem. Bacon cheeseburgers are great.

@Scott – You need a bacon maple bar my friend!

@Matty – Yep. Lack of sharing a win in all sorts of ways.

@Bruce – Happy to hear you’re pro pork.

@Sara – I like money and it is a part of it but like everything else, it isn’t a replacement for leadership.

@Fran – I know what Laurie thinks of wellness programs so I am going to keep my mouth closed on that one.

@Teresa – Yep praise is nice, so is money, so is leadership. Let’s put it all together the right way.

By: teresahrgirl

teresahrgirl — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 19:12:07 +0000

Why have i never heard of the bacon of the month club and why hasn’t anyone given it to me for my birthday present!!!?? @fran

I don’t necessarily agree that only praise works. My boss took me to lunch last Monday to tell me what an awesome job I’m doing but my paycheck is not any heavier this week…. SHOW ME THE MONEY. And the praise is nice.