In the last post, I wrote about how rewards only work for encouraging people to do tedious, non-creative, or straight-forward activities. But rewards and punishments are not good for motivating long term, creative, innovative behavior. What I didn't say is that even when rewards are appropriate, some reward systems are more effective than others. And on the rare occasion that rewards do work, they simply motivate people to seek rewards, not participate in the anticipated behavior. Not only does the research show that rewards do not work for creative behaviors, but they actually HURT the behavior.
Daniel Pink points out that the most common and least effective form of reward is the if/then reward. For example, a principal might say, "If you have perfect attendance at faculty meetings, I'll enter your name into a drawing to win a good parking space." The research on motivation shows that this type of reward might motivate attendance at meetings (a non-creative behavior), but that's not really the behavior that the principal wants. We'll find out in future posts what strategies Pink suggests to internally motivate teachers to thoroughly participate in faculty meetings and other important activities.
They type of reward system that seems to be effective at motivating these low-creativity behaviors are "now that" rewards. This would look like, "Now that you've completed typing the minutes from the last meeting, I'd like to give you this Starbucks card." This makes people feel appreciated and doesn't lead to behavior simply aimed at receiving a reward because no reward was promised.
I know what you must be thinking . . . "But money must be the ultimate motivator. Money works as a motivator, right?" The research clearly shows that as long as the person feels like they're being paid fairly, then money is not a motivator and can actually reduce creativity and engagement.
I know what you must be thinking . . . "But money must be the ultimate motivator. Money works as a motivator, right?" The research clearly shows that as long as the person feels like they're being paid fairly, then money is not a motivator and can actually reduce creativity and engagement.
In the next four posts, I'll share with you the three things that Daniel Pink writes about that can motivate people and the one thing that I believe that he missed.
For what activities have you found that rewards DO seem to work? How did you set up the reward system?
For what activities have you found that rewards DO NOT work?
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