(Editor’s Note: Today’s post is brought to you by Kronos, the global leader in delivering workforce management solutions in the cloud. Bill Bartow, vice president of global product management wrote a terrific piece on Gigaom about the intersection of wearable tech and work. It will have an impact on the workplace. Be sure to check it out!)
The “carrot and stick” approach has been around for decades. The term refers to the concept of using both rewards and punishment to change behavior. It comes from an old practice of dangling a carrot in front of a mule. The mule wants the carrot so it moves forward. At the same time, it doesn’t want the stick (i.e. punishment) if it doesn’t move.
Today’s Time Well Spent cartoon from Kronos reminds me that, as logical as the carrot and stick concept might sound, it doesn’t always translate well to every setting.
Every individual works differently. The environment that allows me to be my most productive might not work for someone else. And vice versa. Same is true for rewards and punishment. My idea of a reward could mean nothing to others. Managers should understand what works best for their teams and create an environment that offers it. That will allow individuals to perform at their best!
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Dan Enthoven says
Good managers need to find out what motivates each employee individually and use that to make the whole team more successful. What some see as a real reward others might not even notice…or maybe even see as a negative.
Sharlyn Lauby says
Very true! Thanks for the comment.
Cathy Shanes says
Motivation has always been treated as a general thing and rarely any personal approach is taken. However when talking about generations I think generalization is appropriate, because on the whole people of the same generation have more or less similar needs and motivation factors. For example, Millennials are engaged and motivated by challenges, good work-life balance and regular feedback. But again, these are the general rules and as we know there’s always an exception.