Managers can rely on the carrot or the stick to reward or punish employees. Unfortunately, most managers don't give much opinion about how they reward or punish. In dozens of management improvement courses I have delivered, I have asked managers, what they use to motivate their employees. Most say money. When asked to think deeper about worker motivations they often comprehend that they have not in effect given much opinion about what motivates employees, much less given much opinion about how they as managers do it.
Webster University
Few have given much opinion to the fact that the wrong type of reward can in fact have the opposite effect. I always share with them the story of the top sales representative at a large pharmaceutical enterprise where I used to work. He was the best the enterprise had. Not only did they reward him with bonuses, but they also had many award trips that representatives could win on a quarterly, semester and annual basis. He approximately won them all! He was winning trips to exotic locations and thoughprovoking cities all over the country. I was working in a sales operations position at the time. I visited with him to learn more about his success. While our visit I was shocked when he told me how unhappy he was with the enterprise and how he was mental of leaving!
I soon learned why. He had a large territory and was enduringly "on the road". He also had any small children. While he realized that he had to voyage to be successful, he did not appreciate the fact that approximately every 3 or 4 months the enterprise incredible him to go on these fancy trips, which took him away from his house even more. He asked, why couldn't they just give him the money or award him with prize points, rather than force him away from his family! management had never considered if the type of rewards we were contribution was in effect motivating those who received them. The same is true, if not more so, when it comes to punishment. When working on case studies dealing with difficult employees, attendees at my leadership improvement programs usually write back first by saying plainly "fire them". They also talk about putting them on "performance revising plans" or other types of punishment. Few have given serious opinion about the type of punishment or the manner in which they deliver the punishment and either it has impact on improving behavior in promoting the desired type of organizational show the way in the future.
In a study designed to survey if the way managers deliver punishment has a determined impact on behavior within organizations, Ball, Revino and Sims showed that "punishment can in effect work on subordinates' subsequent behaviors (and preclude negative behaviors) if the punishment is conducted in a singular way" (1994, p. 314). They found that determined results occurred when punishment was perceived by the worker to be just and "matching the infraction" they committed and "consistent with what others have received" for similar violations (p. 315). They also found that employees felt the punishment was more fair and consistent, if they had some input into process (p. 315). Just as the representative in my example above wanted input into how he was rewarded, employees feel more motivated by punishment if they are complicated in the decision production process about punishment. It may seem unreasonable to involve an worker in this discussion; after all, they are being punished. However, their study shows that "individuals with a strong belief in a just world saw punishment as more constructive and as providing them with more control" (p. 316).
Furthermore, individuals who comprehend the world as unjust and where they have dinky control over events "perceived the punishment process as less constructive and as providing them with less control, and they perceived the imposed punishment as harsher" (p. 316). By thoughprovoking the worker in the argument about the reasons for the punishment and the standards of said punishment, the boss is construction an environment that the worker feels is just and fair and where he/she is complicated in the process.
The implications of this study are important. Just as giving a reward is designed to motivate or encourage determined behavior; punishment's end goal is to turn or discourage negative behavior. Therefore, a boss must consider the results of this study to be truly effective when delivering punishment. First, the punishment must be seen as just and fair. To be seen as just, there must be consistency in who is punished and why throughout the organization. Also, the proposed punishment must be consistent with punishment given in the past and not disproportionate to the infraction. Next, the worker must feel that he/she has some control over what is happening to them. Therefore, they must be engaged in a conversation about the performance and the punishment. The boss should take extra time to ensure that they "influence the subordinate's interpretation of the event by highlighting its determined and constructive features and by clearly explaining and justifying the imposed punishment" (p. 316).
This engages the worker and helps them comprehend that they have control over their time to come if they turn determined behaviors. All of this helps ensure that punishment is done in a way that improves organizational behavior and citizenship and not be perceived as a "big stick" in the hand of a tyrannical manager.
References:
Ball, G.A., Trevino, L.K., and Sims, H.P., (1994). Just and unjust punishment: Influences on subordinate performance and citizenship. Academy of management Journal. Vol. 37, No. 2, 299 - 322.
Rewards and Punishment in enterprise
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