Archive for Motivation
10 Reasons Why Employee Motivation Programs are a Huge Waste of Time
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Paul Marciano
Despite all the research that confirms traditional reward and recognition programs decrease employee motivation and productivity, organizations persist in their use. Why? Perhaps because they seem to make sense taken at face value. I mean, who would think that “Employee of the Month” programs actually destroy employ morale and teamwork – but they do!
Perhaps these programs persist because people just don’t know any better. Here are 10 reasons why you and your organization should STOP using these programs to try and motivate employees because they are a huge waste of time and money.
- Programs fail because they are programs. Reward and recognition programs fail for the same reason that diets fail — because they are programs! Programs don’t fundamentally change employees’ beliefs or commitment to their job. They simply change their behavior during the course of the program. Employees are motivated to work toward the goal only as long as the program continues.
- Rewards are not necessarily what employees want. The most basic assumption of reward and recognition programs is that the “donkey” wants the “carrot.” I live on a farm with donkeys. This may surprise you, but not all donkeys like carrots. Organizations always assume they know what employees will find desirable. In truth, many rewards are not the least enticing and some even downright undesirable.
- Goals can limit performance. Setting goals should be viewed as stepping-stones and opportunities to celebrate accomplishments, not as finish lines. In the words of Mike Krzyzewski, Duke University’s men’s basketball coach, “I never have a goal that involves number of wins — never. It would just tend to limit our potential.”
- Programs foster cheating. Cheating or deception of some form tends to occur in most programs. Examples range from the fairly benign to the illegal. These include expediting or delaying orders or expenses, withholding information or providing misleading information, taking shortcuts, stealing customers, or in some other way attempting to make the employee or team look better than the competition — also known as co-workers. Programs with high-value rewards and few winners are most likely to turn employees into cheaters.
- Programs destroy teamwork. Obviously, cheating destroys teamwork but other factors contribute to team dysfunction. Within any team there are employees with different skill levels, commitment to the organization, and those with the inability to devote additional effort outside of normal business hours because of family and other responsibilities. Invariably, “pulling the load” frustrates the hardworking, motivated employee. In the end, win or lose, the employees who were the most motivated will feel the most cheated.
- Programs reduce creativity and risk taking. Employees are risk-averse when it comes to competing for a reward. They don’t want to risk losing and looking bad because they tried some new, clever approach that failed. Traditional reward and recognition programs reinforce “doing it by the book” — not experimentation. Such programs actually discourage innovation, creativity, and risk taking — the very behaviors that improve organizations. People may work harder but they will not work smarter.
- Reward programs devalue work. Reward and recognition programs actually diminish the perceived value of the work to be done. Psychologically, employees are doing the work not because it is important but because they can benefit from it materially. The more employees value a task, the more motivated they will be to perform it well.
- Wrong behaviors are rewarded. Frequently, reward and recognition programs reinforce the wrong behaviors. For example, organizational leaders may speak of the importance of teamwork but then create programs that recognize and reinforce individual performance. This may well result in rewarding the individual who is the worst team player. Is your company accidentally reinforcing behaviors that run counter to the values of your organization?
- Programs have no impact on workplace culture. Reward and recognition programs will never lead to long-term, sustainable changes in behavior because they have no impact on organizational culture. Culture drives behavior and behavior reinforces culture. Highly effective organizations have a culture where people work hard and achieve – and this behavior is not the result of any program.
- Reward programs decrease overall motivation. Ironically, these programs reward the top performers in the organization and reinforce how unappreciated the poor performers feel. How much more motivated and productive can the best employees be? It’s like the student who asks, “Dr. Marciano, I got a 98 on my exam, can you help me get 100?”
The employees who increased their efforts and were not recognized will be demoralized and adopt the attitude, “Why should I bother working harder if I don’t get anything for it?” The additional effort of these employees actually dips below what it was before the program.
It may be difficult for managers to accept but it’s the truth; traditional reward and recognition programs that seek to motivate employees actually do more harm than good.
So, you may be asking yourself: “If I don’t motivate employees through traditional programs, then how can I improve productivity?” The answer is – you’re asking the wrong question. Maximizing the productivity of your workforce has nothing to do with motivating them – it has to do with building a culture of RESPECT that leads to engagement.
Engaged employees are committed, loyal and dedicated, and will deliver high levels of discretionary effort without the promise of carrots or threats of the stick. Employees experience respect when leaders engage in the following behaviors.
Recognition: Acknowledging employees’ contributions on a daily basis
Empowerment: Providing employees with the tools, resources, training, and information they need to be successful
Supportive Feedback: Giving ongoing performance feedback – both positive and corrective
Partnering: Fostering a collaborative working environment 1:1, within and across teams
Expectation Setting: Setting clear performance goals and holding employees accountable
Consideration: Demonstrating thoughtfulness, empathy, and kindness
Trust: Demonstrating faith and belief in employees’ skills, abilities, and decisions
If you want to maximize the ROI of your employees, throw out the carrots and sticks and start showing them respect.
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Paul Marciano is author of Carrots and Sticks Don’t Work: Build a Culture of Employee Engagement with the Principles of RESPECT. His book provides real world case studies and turnkey strategies to increase employee discretionary effort and reduce turnover. Dr. Marciano earned his Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from Yale University where he specialized in behavior modification and motivation. Follow him on Twitter @drpaulmarciano.
Don’t Wait to be a Hero: If You Have Something to Give, Give it Now
Posted by: | CommentsMark Bezos is SVP, Communications and Development, for the nonprofit Robin Hood Foundation and also a volunteer fireman in his home town. It was in this latter capacity that he spoke at a recent TED conference about his experience in putting out a fire that taught him, “don’t wait to be a hero.” He was referring to the individual acts of kindness that mean so much to each of us. What struck home for me was his final comment, “if you have something to give, give it now.”
Not too long ago Pam, a friend who is also a member of a peer group I belong to, was entering an apartment building when someone walking just ahead of her fell and injured herself. By coincidence the woman who fell is also a friend of mine and Shoya told me this story: Pam refused to leave until the ambulance arrived. Then she rode with Shoya to the hospital and stayed with her for seven hours in the emergency room until she was admitted to the hospital. This, for a perfect stranger. So, hats off to people like Mark and Pam who are true, unsung heroes.
The Flogging Will Continue Until Morale Improves
Posted by: | CommentsI played in a regional bridge tournament recently and stopped in my tracks when a man walked by wearing a T-shirt that said: “The flogging will continue until morale improves.” I laughed, but it wasn’t really funny. Flogging employees doesn’t happen anymore, but verbal abuse and unreasonable demands are all too common in many companies. (Unfortunately, punishment by flogging is still prevalent in less civilized societies).
The company shall remain nameless, but I once worked for a CEO who would simply phone senior executives with the command “get over here.” No hi, how are you. Oh, and he once threw an ash tray in a meeting. Don’t think this doesn’t happen anymore. With the bad economy, some companies are getting away with mistreating employees, who need to hold onto their jobs. But things will get better in time, and then employees will flee.
Arrogance Doesn’t Cut it Anymore
In a recent issue of Business Week in an article entitled Twelve Signs Arrogance is Running Your Company leadership expert Alaina Love with Purpose Linked Consulting recounted the story of Joe, who astonished the CEO of his company by resigning because his cautions about the company’s direction fell on deaf ears. Joe was a key player and nobody wanted him to leave so they brought in Love to try to talk him out of it. As Love writes in her bylined article, “The significance of Joe’s impending departure was enormous, I realized. He’d grown up in the company, starting first in sales and eventually working his way up to a leadership position in marketing. Losing him would mean a tough blow for the organization, one from which recovery would be difficult and lengthy, if not impossible. With him would go years of irreplaceable institutional wisdom and history.”
Joe’s Reason for Leaving
He told Love, “We’re not positioning ourselves for ongoing success, and I just don’t think this way of operating is sustainable. I’ve done everything I can to convince leadership we should adopt a different approach, but they’re not listening. They won’t even sit down long enough to learn about the suggestions I have for changing things.”
Employee engagement has become the new mantra for forward-thinking companies, but, alas, too many CEOs take the position of Joe’s. “We don’t need somebody around here who doesn’t embrace our way of doing things,” the CEO said to Love. In other words, it’s my way or the highway.
How shortsighted. As I’ve written before, the economy is bad now so employees are staying put. But in time the job market will improve and those companies that value their employees will be rewarded by their loyalty. Companies like Joe’s will experience an exodus of employees who don’t want any more floggings.
Don’t Mistake Motion for Progress
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Let me out of here!
Leave it to Seth Goldin to come up with one of his pithy blog posts in which he said, “As the number of apparently significant digits in the data available to us goes up (traffic was up .1% yesterday!) we continually seek causation, even if we’re looking in the wrong places…data is not information, and confusing numbers with truth can help you make some bad decisions.”
Well said. He reminded me of one of my favorite sayings, “Don’t mistake motion for progress.” I’m not going to point any fingers, because I’m guilty myself of filling my schedule with things to do every day. Write my blog, do a little prospecting, add a little networking, do some client work, yada, yada, yada.
But does all this motion equate to making progress in reaching my goals? Busy-ness is OK if you can see the finish line. But I think many of us feel like the rat endlessly running on an exercise wheel – we go faster and faster but it’s still the same old circle.
In my New Year’s blog last year, I made the following resolution, which I will renew this year:
- No more coulda, shoulda, wouldas. I coulda done that if I tried. I shoulda done that and it would have made such a difference in my life. I woulda done that if only I had (fill in the blank). But I intend to add another resolution for 2011 –
- Don’t mistake motion for progress. Progress means you actually accomplished something. Motion is spinning your wheels on unproductive activities. There’s a difference.
If I want more exercise I’ll go to the gym. Happy New Year!
