Ian Larkin is an assistant professor Harvard Business School and he shared some interesting research last spring.

The study focused on the effect of rewards, and although the subjects were laundry plant workers the results apply to knowledge workers, too.

The plan rewarded workers for being on time and not missing days.

The results were not as expected and productivity dropped.

In other words, the rewards plan ended up demotivating the workers.

Why?

Because it was easily gamed and structured to reward actions that were an expected part of the job, such as being on time.

Rewards should always be for going above and beyond the job description, showing initiative, creativity, reaching out to support not just the team, but others with whom they interface, etc.

It’s also important to remember that money isn’t always the best reward.

Most studies have proved that praise is an excellent driver of performance, productivity and good feelings—public recognition/kudos usually carries more weight than bought rewards such as meals or movie tickets.

“You can’t put a price on that. The recognition of hearing you did a good job and that others are hearing about it is worth more than money.”

The main thing to remember is that awards aren’t a solve-all panacea for an ailing team.

“You can’t say awards are good or bad. It depends on how they’re implemented.”

And they certainly won’t/can’t replace good management skills.

Flickr image credit: FSNR

Five years ago I wrote about a coaching assignment that was the result of the prevailing attitude of praising and rewarding kids. The manager had already had a similar conversation, but wanted the points driven home by a “third party expert.”

I had the dubious honor of explaining to a 28 year old why he didn’t get a bonus. I started by asking why he thought he deserved one, He said that

• he hadn’t missed a day of work during the year and
• had been on time every day;
• all his assignments were completed on time; and
• he’d done everything exactly as requested.

I spent 20 minutes explaining that 1) the things he listed were his job, what he’d been hired to do and for which, he agreed, he was fairly compensated and 2) the bonus was for people who had

• gone beyond their job description;
• shown imitative; and
• offered help without being asked.

The result of the ‘double dose’ was apparent the following year when that young man won a sizable raise and a merit-based bonus—not always the typical reaction.

I thought about that experience when I read Losing is Good for You, but what really drove home the importance of changing the current paradigm was the comment from KJ, a 24 year old college grad.

I’m 24 and a college graduate, and my peers and I were constantly praised from kindergarten through college. Like in the article, we all got trophies and certificates of achievement in grade and middle school, high grades in high school (partially so we could get into good colleges) and good grades for just showing up to class in college.
Competitive skills are not inherently developed; they are learned. What we have now is a group of young people coming out of college and high school who are just discovering that it takes more than showing up to succeed in life, and it is in no small part due to the “everybody is special” culture that we were steeped in as adolescents. (Emphasis added.)

However, what continues to amaze me is that after more than a decade in the workplace those who learned, changed and were promoted are still raising their kids as special, thus propagating the attitude.

And they do this while simultaneously bemoaning the entitled “it’s enough to show up” attitude of their new hires.

Flickr image credit: Ray Bouknight

Vote in comments for your favorite manager and I’ll send him/her a great business book.

Click to see a common attitude for all generations

Image credit: cliff1066 on flickr

How ’bout that. MAPping Company Success won an award. It doesn’t make us famous, but it does mean someone out there thinks we have value.

That someone is Bill Austin, who writes Slow Cooker Recipes and Crockpot Recipes (among others).

The award is for showing a great attitude or gratitude.
The rules of the award are as follows:

• Put the logo on your blog or post.
• Nominate at least 10 blogs that show great attitude or gratitude.
• Link to your nominees within your post.
• Let the nominees know that they have received this award by commenting on their blog.
• Share the love and link to the person from who you received your award.

My 10 nominations are:
Slacker Manager
Biz Levity
Raven’s Brain
Forty Plus Two
FranchisePick
Digital Brikes
Andrew Gordon
Linked Intelligence
Yielding Wealth
Darlene McDaniel

Great people, great blogs!

Thanks, Bill!