Page 63 - Build a Culture of Employee Engagement with the Principles

34 Carrots and Sticks Don’t Work

how to practically apply their principles in the workplace. In
fact, most human resources managers that I’ve met think that
negative reinforcement is some form of punishment. If they mis-
understand such basic terms, how can they possibly create an
effective program?
In fairness, especially in a smaller company, most human
resources managers are generalists who are required to have
knowledge in many, many areas and should not be expected
to have such expertise. At the same time, such professionals
should take responsibility for knowing what they don’t know and
not take on projects for which they are unqualified, because, as
we have seen, they often cause more harm than good. If you are
intent on developing motivation programs, I encourage you to
seek the guidance of a qualified behavioral psychologist.

Reason 19: Programs Have No Impact on
Workplace Culture

Reward and recognition programs will never lead to long-term,
sustainable changes in behavior because they have no impact
on organizational culture. This is the fundamental reason why
these programs should be dismissed. Culture drives behavior,
and behavior reinforces culture. When you take a new job you
either fit into the culture, acclimate to fit the culture, or leave.
The behaviors of incumbent employees serve to inculcate new
employees into the culture of the organization. We are social
beings extremely sensitive to fitting in and take our cues from
those around us. In fact, our desire to conform is so strong that
we will actually disregard what we know to be true in order to
avoid being the odd man out. Whether it is your place of work
or worship, a social club, or a health club, there is an associated
culture that tells you how to act and even what to believe.
How many times have you heard, “That is just the culture
around here”? “That” may refer to anything from showing up