Motivation Through Rewards

Recently I’ve been reading, Bringing Out the Best in People, by Aubrey C. Daniels, and in it there is a section about making rewards effective. Many people and many businesses struggle with how to effectively reward people in a way that motivates them. In fact, when rewards and recognition are handled the wrong way, they actually can do a lot more harm than good. With this in mind, here are a few pointers from the author that I believe truly help in motivating others through rewards.

#1-Make Positive Reinforcement a Habit

Consistent and sincere positive reinforcement is the number one way to motivate others. In life we are often trained to look for and point out the bad whether we are parents at home or supervisors at work. And pointing out the bad constantly is very deflating to anyone, whereas doing the opposite, meaning pointing out the good, is uplifting. In fact, most often people don’t need rewards or gifts to be motivated—all they really need is sincere positive reinforcement and praise for a job well done.

#2-The Reward Must be Earned

If we are motivating through rewards, then there must be a strong, clear, and direct correlation between performance and the reward. There should be a clear understanding of what must be accomplished to receive the reward, and those achievements must be reached before the reward is given. It also must be something that requires some effort. If not, the reward will lose its value and its ability to motivate.

#3-The Reward Must have Personal Value

Have you ever received something you didn’t want or like? When we reward someone for achieving something, we must give them something that they want. When we have a “blanket” reward approach, people who are not interested in the reward are not motivated. Like shoes, one reward does not fit all; thus to make our rewards systems the most valuable, the rewards should be personalized.

#4-The Reward Must be Given Immediately

The closer we can give the reward to the time the behaviors to earn the reward occurred, the better. When reinforcement is immediate, motivation and the likelihood to repeat performance greatly increases. When we delay, people often forget or fail to correlate what they did “good” to receive the reward—even when you tell them! Thus, have the reward ready to give as soon as possible.

Often we believe that simply giving rewards is enough to motivate others. The opposite could not be more true however. When done properly, by following the tips above, rewards can be an effective way to motivate others; however when done poorly, rewards can actually decrease and completely eliminate motivation. Thus, we must be careful how we reward others. By following the simple steps above, we will become more effective leaders and more effective “rewarders”.