Praise Not Prizes: What's Motivating Employees?

Praise Not Prizes: What’s Motivating Employees?

Monetary incentives don’t buy workplace happiness.

Motivation using monetary ‘carrots’ – such as perks or financial compensation – has a weak exchange rate with today’s knowledge worker.

As the Harvard Business Review explains, “Though necessary, these extrinsic motivators [perks, promotion, pay] don't necessarily excite people to work smarter or harder.

As the Harvard Business Review explains, “Though necessary, these extrinsic motivators [perks, promotion, pay] don't necessarily excite people to work smarter or harder.

Instead, they prompt employees to do only the minimum required to get that next raise or job title.”

Put another way: ‘carrots’ do not work as a motivator. Instead, as the studies illustrate, it is intrinsic motivation – such as recognition from managers and peers – that gets results.

Put another way: ‘carrots’ do not work as a motivator. Instead, as the studies illustrate, it is intrinsic motivation – such as recognition from managers and peers – that gets results.

Here’s a few reasons why…

Reason #1Points and prizes create

a false economy

When an exchange occurs for going above and beyond, if that same exchange doesn’t happen the next time, employees are let down and reluctant to keep over-performing.

When an exchange occurs for going above and beyond, if that same exchange doesn’t happen the next time, employees are let down and reluctant to keep over-performing.

In this way, monetary incentives (beyond salary and benefits, which are table stakes) can be a deterrent.

Reason #2Recognition = Real returns

Organizations pay a high price when they involuntarily lose employees.

Recognition translates to retention and increased effort. A Gallup study of over 10,000 business units and more than 30 industries found that employees are more likely to give more when they feel valued.

Employee engagement benefits the bottom line in measurable ways, with the right non-monetary social recognition program providing:

· Improved employee and customer retention· Increased productivity· Decreased operational costs

Reason #3Recognition unleashes social and

intellectual capital

At one time machinery or land determined an organization’s success. Today, people represent the intellectual capital of the business.

At one time machinery or land determined an organization’s success. Today, people represent the intellectual capital of the business.

The right social recognition program leverages an organization’s people and their stories to shape the corporate culture.

Sharing success stories across the corporate intranet transforms recognition into a valuable asset for employee development and collaboration, easily accessible to all.

Sharing success stories across the corporate intranet transforms recognition into a valuable asset for employee development and collaboration, easily accessible to all.

Incentive programs simply can’t compete.

So praise or prizes? Done right, recognition – not rewards – is the heart of enterprise, pumping life into employee engagement, productivity and retention.

Some of TemboSocial’s clients:

By leveraging the corporate intranet, TemboSocial’s suite of software add-ons help empower, inform, and create a culture of employee-driven excellence. TemboSocial helps drive engagement with Social Recognition, Ideation, Polling, Commenting, and Employee Engagement Surveys.