Page 57 - Build a Culture of Employee Engagement with the Principles

28 Carrots and Sticks Don’t Work

Time between the occurrence of the behavior and delivery of
the reward is another critical factor. Reinforcement is most
powerful when it occurs immediately after the desired behav-
ior. Imagine, for example, telling a donkey that he did a good
job but he’ll have to wait a few months before getting his carrot.
In practice, there is often substantial lag time between behavior
and reinforcer. People work harder to receive rewards that can
be realized sooner rather than later. On a day-to-day basis, year-
end rewards and employee-of-the-month programs do little to
motivate behavior.
Nearly all reward and recognition programs follow the weak-
est possible schedule of reinforcement and the one most suscep-
tible to extinction (extinction meaning that the behavior stops
once the reward is no longer given). In strong reinforcement
schedules, the behavior continues in the absence of the reinforcer
for long periods of time. Consider for a moment the difference
between the reinforcement schedules of a soda machine and a
slot machine. Put a dollar in the soda machine and get a soda.
Now, put a dollar in the soda machine and get nothing. How many
more dollars do you put in before you stop? Notice how quickly
the lack of reinforcement (getting your drink) extinguishes the
behavior of putting your dollar in the machine. In contrast, peo-
ple will put dollar after dollar in a slot machine without getting
paid off. Technically speaking, slot machines work on what is
called a variable ratio reinforcement schedule—you don’t know
how frequently you are going to win or how much. This schedule
keeps people highly motivated. In contrast, soda machines and
nearly all reward and recognition programs are based on a fixed
schedule, which is considerably less motivating.
You may be thinking, “Why is he wasting my time writing
about soda and slot machines?!” Well, if you’re going to use