Monday, September 17, 2007
Rewards Don’t Motivate
lifehack.org: "Author of “Motivation from the Inside Out: Rethinking Rewards, Assessment, and Learning” and “Beyond Bribes and Threats: Realistic Alternatives to Controlling Students’ Behavior”, Alfie Kohn wrote this piece for the New York Times in 1993 about rewards in the workplace not motivating employees the right way."
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8 comments:
I honestly think it depends on the reward, if it is something small, i.e. a slice of pizza, it gives you an added boost, but I don't think would stress you out to the point of it no longer being fun. However if the reward is something large, something that is important to your career, i.e. a promotion, it's no longer fun, but is now work and a competiton. None of that matters if you don't care if your workers are having fun
for some reason this confuses me greatly because I don't know what kind of reward one is talking about. If you think of a reward being a higher job position or something then yes it does create more work however, if you are doing something that you love than wouldn't you want more work...so i might have to say i disagree with jill a little bit because i think if you like your career than a promotion is the best kind of reward...though i do tend to be a competitive person by nature so maybe thats the reason why I see it that way
A few things are really unclear in this article. First of all, how big of a reward are we talking about? Are you just getting a pat on the back or a paid vacation? Secondly, who is the reward coming from? If it's a superior, then I feel like i need to keep the same level of work going to live up to the standards I've set. Perhaps this is just something I would tell myself I would do as a result, but I do tend to stick by my morals....
i can see where this idea is coming from. this summer i watched my dad's business go through a consultant and revamping. one of the first things the consultant suggested was rewards and punishments. now these do have their advantages but also disadvantages. they can, and do, create a negetive and competetive atmosphere in the office, employees stop focusing on the whole business and its well-being, and instead start to worry only for themselves. and another thing is rewards, often times rewards are given for things that ought to be simply expected. in doing this standards can be lowered and the quality of the business suffers. employees should not be rewarded for the expected. we can not celebrate or reward mediocracy. doing what is expected should get you your paycheck, and that is all; but if one does go above and beyond, by all means reward them, but it actually has to be above and beyond.
I tend to think of reward as more of an added benefit, a bonus feature. You don't lose if you decide not to try for it, because it is not something you were expected to have in the first place. It might just be a weird mentality, but the idea of rewards never really seems stressful to me, because people are capable of getting along without them.
I agree. Nothing will get me working on a project more than myself. If I just start doing something (like these comments) then I do them and get them done. For me the reward is the time I have left over and the ability to do nothing and not feal guilty about it. The best thing is checking something off a todo list!
I agree that system of rewards and punishments will create a negative and competitive work environment. I know for me as well, when a reward rely's on me completing a project, that the end product might be a rushed job or a lower quality of work than if I was simply self motivated.
In an environment where rewards awarded, one must remember all of the workers who are not rewarded. The percentage of workers who are rewarded is far smaller than the percentage of those left without an incentive. Work for work's sake is the the most effective method for creating a positive work environment.
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