There are two types of planning philosophies used by vendors in the employee recognition space. The most common, especially among incentive companies offering an “off the shelf” product, is to ask questions that qualify the sponsoring company for “fit” within a narrow range of predefined user options. During those conversations the supplier will steer the HR practitioner into a restricted range of functionality in an effort to meet their system’s specs.

There is, of course, another way—to use the process as an opportunity to understand, define and explore opportunities that will optimize results within the framework of your needs, your business circumstances and your organizational structure.