Reward and Recognition: Better Than a Swift Kick in the Rear

When it comes to motivating the workforce, remember this confidential rule:

People respond better when they are rewarded for doing things right, in contrast to when they are punished for doing something wrong.

I'm assuming this rule is confidential, because it is used so rarely. Perhaps organizations are trying to avoid being burdened with improved employee retention and satisfaction.

Several human resource surveys have recently confirmed that today's employees want to have an impact on their organizations. They want to make a positive difference in products, services, even how work gets done. Successful reward and recognition programs, then, will reinforce employees' feelings of having an impact. This is great news! If you tie reward and recognition to key project goals, then you can simultaneously improve employee satisfaction AND project performance. This is a win-win situation.

Even though you might not be able to modify the corporate compensation and benefits program, you need to add positive and public reinforcement for correct behavior within your project. Here are some tips.

* Make It Easy to Do . . . With a little creativity, you establish a reward program using your own resources. See what your company has available to give out. You may find rare logo premiums in corporate catalogues or some closet somewhere -- maybe over in Marketing. …