Carrots and Sticks Don't Work: Build a Culture of Employee Engagement with the Principles of RESPECT

CHAPTER 2Reward and Recognition Programs Don’t Work

“Don’t worry when you are not recognized, but strive to be worthy of recognition.”

—Abraham Lincoln

Over the past several decades, organizations have spent literally billions of dollars creating and implementing reward and recognition programs in the hopes of motivating their employees and increasing morale. On the face of it, such an approach seems to make good sense; however, in terms of return on investment, the numbers just don’t add up. In fact, most programs intended to motivate employees actually end up creating an overall deficit in employee motivation. While a handful of employees may be reinforced, many are left feeling punished. Programs that do elicit short-term benefits typically ...