Heather Williams XXXXXXXXXXWednesday Sep 2 at 5:33pm What is the purpose of a reward system? This is an incentive to motivate the workforce to put in effort to reach goals that will result in...

Heather Williams

What is the purpose of a reward system? This is an incentive to motivate the workforce to put in effort to reach goals that will result in receiving some type of reward. Often this is in some monetary form such as a bonus or pay raise. “Expectancy theory argues that people are mostly rational decision-makers who think about their actions, and act in ways that satisfy their needs and help them reach their goals.” (“Built to change,” p. 237-238) This assumes that people will rationalize the options and make decisions that best suit their needs. When the rewards are beneficial, they will act accordingly. Extrinsic rewards such as money are not the only thing that motivates people, however as the task itself can be a source of “intellectual curiosity, learning new skills, or having fun and those are the things that make people perform best.” (Chamorro-Premuzic 2013)

In my current position, I have received many raises and bonuses throughout the year, which does give the motivation to continue to perform well. The raises we do receive are based on our performance reviews and therefore, in theory, this should motivate the employees to perform well all the time to achieve their performance goals and therefore the raise. This is not the thing that keeps me doing a good job, however, as I review all of the positions I have had and my favorite job only paid me somewhere around $6, and the reason I loved it had nothing to do with the money. I was given the opportunity to learn new tasks and enjoyed the work itself. I also had a great team and many of us were friends outside of work because of our jobs. My current position has a lot of great benefits such as insurance and as a mother, this is more important than the actual hourly wage. I also am given learning opportunities and the ability to do my work the way that works best for me, not how I am told to do it by a boss. I could find a job working elsewhere for more money, but I would lose some of the things that make me truly enjoy what I do every day. Hiring talented people who want to do the job because of the job itself, could be a good starting point, and then adding rewards to enhance performance seems to be a good way to both keep talented employees, but also continue to motivate them to perform well.

References:

Chamorro-Premuzic, T. (2013, April 10). Does money really affect motivation? A review of the research. [Web log comment]. Retrieved from
http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2013/04/does_money_really_affect_motiv.html(Links to an external site.)(Links to an external site.)

Elliott, J. (2012, May 1). Motivation, rewards, and leadership. [Web log comment]. Retrieved from
http://leadershipdiamond.blogspot.com/2012/05/motivation-rewards-and-leadership.html(Links to an external site.)(Links to an external site.)

Lawler, E.E. & Worley, C.G. (2006).Built to change: How to achieve sustained organizational effectiveness.New York, NY: Jossey-Bass.

Brenda Gantt

Employees want to know as muchaspossible and the necessary actions that are required to reach their performance. The required action should bedemanding, but not impossible.The amount of effort required should be demanding, but not impossible if you want morale to stay high while goals are pursued.Understandingthesignificanceof expectancy theory isvitalto comparing thisto reward systems that organizationshave in place foreach employee.Theexpectancy theoryis aboutmotivating how employees behave in the workplace. Theexpectancytheory basedon how well employees do a certaintask andthe effort they put into getting the job done then they will be rewarded for their performance. According toLawler, & Worley, (2006),“Expectancy theory is popular because it is useful for understanding how people are motivated in many aspects of their lives including social relationships, family, and work.”(p. 238).The purpose of a reward system is to motivate employees by promising them a reward in the future.

A few years back I work for the boys and girls club as a youthcounselor,this one of the best jobs that I landed. ThebenefitsweregreatI made $11 an hour. They had a great reward system of payraises, insurance package, paid sick days, and a bonus at the end of the year.Themoneywas not what motivated me to stay on the job. Workingwith childrendailyis what motivated me to want to do a great job.The reward system was basedon individualand team performance.The companyrealizedthat many of the employees work for more than just pay orbonus but for a growingopportunity and a positiveworkplace. Hai-Ming, & Yi-Hua (2006), Whencreating a reward system, companies will need to understand where the reward dollars are being allocated. Companies that link their rewards to the employee's performance will often attract and retain the best workers for future success.

References

Hai-Ming, C., & Yi-Hua Hsieh. (2006). Key trends of the total reward system in the 21st century. Compensation and Benefits Review, 38(6), 64-70,5. doi:http://dx.doi.org.proxy-library.ashford. edu/10.1177/088636870 6292542

Lawler, E.E. & Worley, C.G. (2006). Built to change: How to achieve sustained organizational effectiveness. New York, NY: Jossey-Bass.