Does Rewards Motivate Anyone?

Because I’m a parent and I developed programs with built in rewards systems (one for individual self-study and one aimed at engaging employees), I decided to answer this question. Does Rewards systems work? Does it motivate people? The answer is simple but complicated, it is a yes and a no.

Yes- Both Rewards and punishment or disciplinary action forces or encourage people (and children) to start or stop or reach for certain behavior. But, No- as soon as or not long after the reward was enjoyed, not received or the punishment was endured and forgotten, people fall back into their routine, default patterns and past mindsets and behavior. In other words, external motivators such as rewards and disciplinary actions only works for initial or short-term results. It still most definitely has its value and is a very necessary tool to use, if used correctly. If there is a continuous positive result it can become longer termed but it is almost never permanent. We are more motivated when there is a sense of urgency which these tools create, but often that sense of urgency is also what delays and takes away from our performance and productivity.

“As for productivity, at least two dozen studies over the last three decades have conclusively shown that people who expect to receive a reward for completing a task or for doing that task successfully simply do not perform as well as those who expect no reward at all….In general, the more cognitive sophistication and open-ended thinking that was required, the worse people performed when working for a reward.” Quoted from: Why Incentive Plans Cannot Work by Alfie Kohn https://hbr.org/1993/09/why-incentive-plans-cannot-work

So, what motivates people:

What keeps people motivated on the long run lies within themselves, we call these people self-motivated. A self-motivated individual is more likely to continue to apply new knowledge gained. In my experience self-motivation is both practical principles being practiced e.g. Good communications skills, visions and goals. And character/ personality traits such as discipline and determination – this comes from our beliefs and our beliefs comes from our thoughts. In other words, for the most part it is a teachable skill-it is the ultimate combination of soft skills. – I help people to become self-motivated, if you want to know more please contact me info@ameliorate.co.za

“…financial incentives were virtually unrelated to the number of workers who were absent or who quit their jobs over a period. By contrast, training and goal-setting programs had a far greater impact on productivity than did pay-for-performance plans.” Quote from: Why Incentive Plans Cannot Work by Alfie Kohn https://hbr.org/1993/09/why-incentive-plans-cannot-work

As Always, Keep Improving

The Ameliorate Team

#Rewards; #disciplinaryaction; #punishment; #motivated; #Selfdevelopment