Page 40 - Build a Culture of Employee Engagement with the Principles

11
The Workplace “Carrot-on-a-Stick”

this situation violates Equity Theory. A classic example occurs
when a new employee is hired at a higher salary than an existing
employee doing the same job. Under these conditions, the exist-
ing employee, who may have been perfectly satisfied with his
pay, naturally becomes upset and feels unappreciated. Typically,
the employee will quit, demand more money, or perform mark-
edly worse. If an organization is going to hire a new employee
with similar skills and education to an existing employee at a
higher pay rate, my suggestion is to give an “equity raise” to
your existing employee before the new employee comes aboard.

But I Know Motivation Works!
If we are talking about changing behavior, motivation tech-
niques can be very helpful in raising a person’s level of readi-
ness to change and in getting him or her to begin engaging in
desired behaviors. However, motivation is rarely enough to
sustain behavior change over time. In the words of Jim Ryun,
“Motivation is what gets you started; habits are what keep you
going.” I’ve been a group fitness instructor for almost a decade,
have designed an organizational health and wellness program,
have taught classes on behavior modification, and have done
individual counseling with people to help them break poor hab-
its and create healthy ones. I can tell you with certainty that
nearly everyone who begins a diet or exercise program does so
with great motivation, but if that initial inspiration is not sup-
plemented with factors such as social support, education, and
a sound exercise and nutrition program, most people will find
themselves back where they started in just a few weeks. Simi-
larly, many programs that try to motivate employees begin with
a bang and fizzle out quickly. Behaviors that change quickly
also change back quickly.