Why employee of the month is NOT a good idea
Incentive schemes – how helpful is “Employee of the Month”?
Those of you who know me, and follow me on a regular basis will know how passionate I am about building workplace cultures where people are motivated, engaged, and giving of their best.
As I prepare for the second day in our new programme, “How to be an Outstanding Manager”, which is all about how to motivate and engage your people, I was revisiting one of mytime favourite books on the topic of getting the best out of people: “How to get the best out of people; the power of positive reinforcement” by Aubrey Daniels.
One aspect of motivating a workforce is, of course, the incentive schemes, or the reward and recognition practices we have in place – and I know of many organisations where “employee of the month” is part of their reward and recognition practice.
But just how effective is it? And what alternatives do we have?
Aubrey Daniels is interviewed on the topic on You-Tube – and you can find the link below. It’s only a short video – so worth checking out!
I rather like Daniels’ opening question: (I’ve slightly changed his word “punishment” to “ignore”!)
Question: How many people get positively re-inforced from an employee of the month scheme?
Answer: 1
Question: How many people get ignored?
Answer: all the rest.
Question: Why would you have a management practice where you tended to ignore more people than you reward or recognise?
Daniels goes on to say that “employee of the month” violates every known principle of positive reinforcement.”
Strong stuff! Have to say, I’m with him on this one.
Take a look at what Aubrey Daniels has to say:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KlMM7ScTTiw
And let me know what you think!
Perhaps you can tell me if you have this scheme in your workplace – and if it does, does it motivate you? Maybe you have some great suggestions of incentive schemes which DO work – in which case, I’d love to hear them!
Warmest regards,
Shona
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