But, as exciting as money is, cash rewards are fraught with problems. Most troubling is that money has no trophy value. Recipients tend to lump it with their commissions and other entitlements and rarely remember how they used the cash. Money doesn't make this connection. It's great in the short term, but it has no staying power because people have no specific memories of how they enjoyed it.
Money also fails the ego test.
Cash still gives you peer recognition since the people in the program know. But you can be sure top performers will discuss their cash awards if they find them insufficient. By putting a clear dollar amount to the incentive, planners run the risk that their people will feel undervalued. If they aren't happy, they're going to start looking for another job. Tom Burnside, director of marketing in the grocery division of Houston-based TeleCheck Services, finds this problem most prevalent with top performers who have high salaries.