EARLIER IN THIS ISSUE, Caitlin Kendall’ s“ Applying Einstein to the World of Spa”( pages 12-15) offers a smart way to keep learning going after training ends: Create a staff retailing contest or incentive. Consider this the next experiment.

CASH HAS ITS CHARMS. Gift cards rarely cause outrage. But if the goal of an incentive is to encourage new behaviors, build confidence and keep employees engaged, perhaps the prize deserves a little more imagination, too. So we convened another extremely unofficial panel of history’ s great thinkers and gave them a new problem to ponder:

WHAT SHOULD THE SPA TEAM WIN? Their answers— liberally interpreted by Pulse— might look something like these.

1 Aristotle: Reward the habit l

Aristotle connected excellence with what we repeatedly do. So don’ t reserve the prize for the employee with the biggest sales total. Reward most improved, a new personal best or consistent use of thoughtful retail recommendations. l TRY: A choice of premium products, treatment credit or an extra paid hour off.

2 Adam Smith: Let self-interest do l some work

Smith understood people respond to incentives— but the same incentive doesn’ t necessarily hold the same value for everyone. l A product allowance may thrill one employee. Another would trade it instantly for an extra hour off.

Someone else wants education, recognition or a spa treatment. l TRY: Put the prize on a menu. Offer three or four rewards of roughly equal value and let the winner choose. The invisible hand may work considerably better when it gets to pick its own prize.

3 Seneca: Give them time

l The Stoic philosopher wrote an entire work on the shortness of life. He probably would have understood the appeal of leaving work early. l For an employee juggling a full treatment schedule with everything waiting outside the spa, time can feel more valuable than another object. l TRY: Award a“ golden hour”— a paid late arrival, early departure or extended break scheduled around business needs. Two thousand years later, time remains a pretty scarce commodity.

4 Leonardo Da Vinci: Fund curiosity l“ Leonardo” rarely stayed in one intellectual lane. Your prize doesn’ t have to, either. l TRY: Pay for a class the winner chooses or send them on a“ field trip” to another spa, hotel, restaurant or retailer known for exceptional service. Ask them to return with three ideas worth borrowing.

PULSE n NOVEMBER 2026 20