Miami Herald Logo

DIANE STAFFORD: Need incentive? Point taken | Miami Herald

×
  • E-edition
  • Home
    • Site Information
    • Contact Us
    • About Us
    • Herald Store
    • RSS Feeds
    • Special Sections
    • Advertise
    • Advertise with Us
    • Media Kit
    • Mobile
    • Mobile Apps & eReaders
    • Newsletters
    • Social
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • Google+
    • Instagram
    • YouTube

    • Sections
    • News
    • South Florida
    • Miami-Dade
    • Broward
    • Florida Keys
    • Florida
    • Politics
    • Weird News
    • Weather
    • National & World
    • Colombia
    • National
    • World
    • Americas
    • Cuba
    • Guantánamo
    • Haiti
    • Venezuela
    • Local Issues
    • Crime
    • Education
    • Environment
    • Health Care
    • In Depth
    • Issues & Ideas
    • Traffic
    • Sections
    • Sports
    • Blogs & Columnists
    • Pro & College
    • Miami Dolphins
    • Miami Heat
    • Miami Marlins
    • Florida Panthers
    • College Sports
    • University of Miami
    • Florida International
    • University of Florida
    • Florida State University
    • More Sports
    • High School Sports
    • Auto Racing
    • Fighting
    • Golf
    • Horse Racing
    • Outdoors
    • Soccer
    • Tennis
    • Youth Sports
    • Other Sports
    • Politics
    • Elections
    • The Florida Influencer Series
    • Sections
    • Business
    • Business Monday
    • Banking
    • International Business
    • National Business
    • Personal Finance
    • Real Estate News
    • Small Business
    • Technology
    • Tourism & Cruises
    • Workplace
    • Business Plan Challenge
    • Blogs & Columnists
    • Cindy Krischer Goodman
    • The Starting Gate
    • Work/Life Balancing Act
    • Movers
    • Sections
    • Living
    • Advice
    • Fashion
    • Food & Drink
    • Health & Fitness
    • Home & Garden
    • Pets
    • Recipes
    • Travel
    • Wine
    • Blogs & Columnists
    • Dave Barry
    • Ana Veciana-Suarez
    • Flashback Miami
    • More Living
    • LGBTQ South Florida
    • Palette Magazine
    • Indulge Magazine
    • South Florida Album
    • Broward Album
    • Sections
    • Entertainment
    • Books
    • Comics
    • Games & Puzzles
    • Horoscopes
    • Movies
    • Music & Nightlife
    • People
    • Performing Arts
    • Restaurants
    • TV
    • Visual Arts
    • Blogs & Columnists
    • Jose Lambiet
    • Lesley Abravanel
    • More Entertainment
    • Events Calendar
    • Miami.com
    • Contests & Promotions
    • Sections
    • All Opinion
    • Editorials
    • Op-Ed
    • Editorial Cartoons
    • Jim Morin
    • Letters to the Editor
    • From Our Inbox
    • Speak Up
    • Submit a Letter
    • Meet the Editorial Board
    • Influencers Opinion
    • Blogs & Columnists
    • Blog Directory
    • Columnist Directory
    • Andres Oppenheimer
    • Carl Hiaasen
    • Leonard Pitts Jr.
    • Fabiola Santiago
    • Obituaries
    • Obituaries in the News
    • Place an Obituary

    • Place an ad
    • All Classifieds
    • Announcements
    • Apartments
    • Auctions/Sales
    • Automotive
    • Commercial Real Estate
    • Employment
    • Garage Sales
    • Legals
    • Merchandise
    • Obituaries
    • Pets
    • Public Notices
    • Real Estate
    • Services
  • Public Notices
  • Cars
  • Jobs
  • Moonlighting
  • Real Estate
  • Mobile & Apps

  • el Nuevo Herald
  • Miami.com
  • Indulge

Latest News

DIANE STAFFORD: Need incentive? Point taken

    ORDER REPRINT →

June 12, 2007 10:01 PM

Brooks Mitchell was on vacation a few years ago when he watched a busload of people pour into an Elko, Nev., casino.

"They were running in to play the slot machines," he recalled. "It hit me that they were excited about losing money."

Thus was born Snowfly Performance Incentives, an employee incentive company focused on random, positive reinforcement, the concept behind slot machines and other games of chance.

Mitchell, who was working on his doctoral dissertation, had also read about an "intermittent reinforcement" motivational program designed to improve attendance at a manufacturing facility.

Sign Up and Save

Get six months of free digital access to the Miami Herald

SUBSCRIBE WITH GOOGLE

#ReadLocal

He combined his casino epiphany with that motivational theory and created software that lets workers earn the right to play computer games of chance at work.

At Accent, a call center in Kansas City, Mo., manager Mike McCart said the games, which have been in use there for about a year, are making a difference in attendance and attitude.

Workers earn tokens for coming to work, for being on time and for meeting other performance goals. The tokens are then used to play very short computer games - no skill required.

The true motivation doesn't come from playing the game. It comes from the random point total won each play.

Those points translate into pennies, which build up to dollars, which are loaded on a debit card for employees to spend whenever and wherever.

"Some save up their totals to spend at Christmas, some save up for vacation," said Linda Hyde, the Accent manager in charge of the call center's Snowfly program. "One of our associates is using her Snowfly dollars to buy a wedding dress."

Some workers earn as much as $100 a week above their base pay through Snowfly points, she said.

Curtis Williams, who said he had held various customer service jobs for 25 years, is a Snowfly fan. "They're fun," he said of the games. "The points build up. It makes a difference."

Mitchell said Snowfly had charted a 20 percent improvement in performance - however a company measures it - with his motivational programs. Managers at Accent didn't have a specific improvement measure to cite, but they said they had been pleased with results so far.

"We've always heard that employers are upset because employees are playing computer games at work," Mitchell said. "But this is different. It's not someone online playing solitaire for hours. These are very short games, only a few seconds each, and you have to earn the ability to play."

After visiting the call center and seeing the games in action, I can verify that the time commitment is indeed tiny. The games are incredibly simple: A basketball player shoots a basket, or several horses run a race, or a few balloons are popped by a mouse click.

The only "excitement" comes from seeing how many points the game randomly produces. If the points didn't add up to dollars, there would be little motivation.

But from a modestly paid worker's standpoint, anything that builds take-home pay is a good thing.

I left the call center feeling a little sad, though.

I'm in favor of rewarding performance, but when rewards accrue merely for showing up, I worry that it says something rather unflattering about the American work ethic.

But, hey, if Snowfly (or anything like it) improves attendance, attitude and performance, I wouldn't pull the plug.

  Comments  

Videos

Egrets roost near Women’s Detention Center in Miami’s inner city

Donald Trump talks about the U.S. humanitarian aid blocked at the border of Venezuela and Colombia

View More Video

Trending Stories

Haitian police arrest five Americans who claimed they were on a ‘government mission’

February 18, 2019 06:37 PM

Man arrested after climbing crane near FIU to ask Trump for mercy for Cuban exile bomber

February 18, 2019 08:44 AM

A Florida 6th-grader called the Pledge of Allegiance ‘racist.’ Then he got arrested.

February 18, 2019 08:59 AM

Double vision: Miami will host Miami in future football game

February 18, 2019 06:36 PM

Get to know Miami’s 2020 recruiting class: RB Don Chaney Jr. gives Canes a class leader

February 18, 2019 11:44 AM

Read Next

Armando Salguero

Rating Reggie McKenzie’s Oakland drafts a preview of what he can bring to Miami

By Armando Salguero

    ORDER REPRINT →

February 19, 2019 12:59 AM

The Miami Dolphins have added experienced personnel man Reggie McKenzie to the front office as a senior executive to help identify and add talent in the coming draft. But McKenzie’s record as the Oakland Raiders general manager was inconsistent.

KEEP READING

Sign Up and Save

#ReadLocal

Get six months of free digital access to the Miami Herald

SUBSCRIBE WITH GOOGLE

MORE LATEST NEWS

Sen. Bernie Sanders says he’s running for president in 2020

Latest News

Sen. Bernie Sanders says he’s running for president in 2020

February 19, 2019 09:38 AM
Chanel: Iconic couturier Karl Lagerfeld dies in Paris

Latest News

Chanel: Iconic couturier Karl Lagerfeld dies in Paris

February 19, 2019 09:35 AM
Florida military bases could lose up to $177 million to Trump’s border wall

Latest News

Florida military bases could lose up to $177 million to Trump’s border wall

February 19, 2019 08:09 AM
How a colony of egrets made Miami’s inner city its winter home

Environment

How a colony of egrets made Miami’s inner city its winter home

February 19, 2019 07:00 AM
Knight Foundation makes $300 million investment to strengthen local news, accountability

Business News

Knight Foundation makes $300 million investment to strengthen local news, accountability

February 19, 2019 05:00 AM
A Florida cellphone seller owes workers $27,000 in back pay after various violations

Business

A Florida cellphone seller owes workers $27,000 in back pay after various violations

February 19, 2019 06:59 AM
Take Us With You

Real-time updates and all local stories you want right in the palm of your hand.

Icon for mobile apps

Miami Herald App

View Newsletters

Subscriptions
  • Start a Subscription
  • Customer Service
  • eEdition
  • Vacation Hold
  • Pay Your Bill
  • Rewards
Learn More
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Newsletters
  • News in Education
  • Public Insight Network
  • Reader Panel
Advertising
  • Place a Classified
  • Media Kit
  • Commercial Printing
  • Public Notices
Copyright
Commenting Policy
Privacy Policy
Terms of Service


Back to Story