Ineffective Rewards = Inhibits Productivity

In my experiences one of the most ineffective uses of rewards has been for the purpose of appeasement not recognition. The reward was used as a tool to try and keep an employee happy and/or keep them from leaving the organization. The employee, in most cases, was not the most deserving of the reward. This use of rewards not only was ineffective in keeping the employee happy but also had a negative affect on other staff that felt they were more deserving of the recognition. The reward lost some of its luster and impact therefore reducing the motivation of employees to strive for higher levels of performance. There was a reduction in productivity due to the fact that employees realized the recognition they were striving for was not given on the basis of performance but rather as a leverage tool.

Rewards should be given in a manner that not only recognizes the success of an individual or team but instills a desire in other members of the organization to also strive for the same success. When recognition is for political reasons the recognition becomes tainted and less appealing. In the same sense a reward that is not appropriate or relevant to those it is being given will have little motivational leverage in encouraging employees to strive for higher success. A reward needs to be of such quality or status that it requires hard work to achieve and cannot be attained easily by other means.

In my previous studies of psychology one of the studies that was fascinating to me was that of random reinforcement. The class discussion was around paydays and how knowing when the payday is employees will make sure to be at work on that day but may not be as motivated to work other days. The idea was thrown in discussion of what the response would be if payday was not a set day but if employees knew that they would be paid sometime during the week. Would employees be more motivated to show up and work hard every day not knowing when they might be paid. The same can be done with rewards. If rewards are given out on a set day then employees will do their best to put forth a great effort and be present on that day so that they might be considered for the reward. Random rewards could be more effective in eliciting a sustained effort from employees not knowing when they might be rewarded for the work.