Page 49 - Build a Culture of Employee Engagement with the Principles

20 Carrots and Sticks Don’t Work

Employees are motivated to work toward the goal only as
long as the program continues. You don’t see many people con-
tinuing to run once they have crossed the finish line. When one
person yells “Bingo” the game is pretty much over. Presumably,
you don’t want employees to be motivated only when programs
are in place. If an organization is not careful, it will condi-
tion its employees to do just that—the way retail stores have
conditioned people to shop only during sales. It should not be
about temporary bursts of energy; it should be about continuous
improvement based on the belief that getting better or working
hard matters for its own sake and not for some external reward.

Reason 2: Rewards Are Not
Necessarily Reinforcing
The most basic assumption of reward and recognition programs
is that the “donkey” wants the carrot. I grew up on a farm with
horses and donkeys. This may surprise you, but not all don-
keys like carrots. Organizations always assume they know what
employees will find desirable.
For example, a company might offer an extra vacation day as
an incentive; in some companies many employees do not use all
their vacation—especially in the United States. Why work for
something you’re not going to use? A friend works at a company
where they give gas cards to the employee of the month. Last
month it went to the security guard who doesn’t own a car. In
some cases the supposed reward can actually result in employees

Even those rewards that might appear to be most obviously desir-
able do not necessarily work for everybody.