Re: Recognizing employees

All attempts at increasing workers' productivity are schemes, if they
use bribes or threats,.. which is all that an extrinsic motivation
scheme is.  Call it what you want,.. ploy, system, device, plan,
method, butterfudge,... it is the same thing.

The old man's motive is irrelevant.  The results are the same; when
intrinsic is working, extrinsic will destroy it.   Saying his motive
invalidates the results would imply, for example, that a
pay-for-performance butterfudge will work better if the boss wants his
people to work better rather than wanting them to be stabbing each
other's backs.  Of course he didn't want them to compete that way.  It
will happen nonetheless.

What a naive statement: "Only the perception of manipulation makes the
system negative."  Reward systems are nothing more than
bribe/punishment systems.  No matter how many memos decry otherwise,
the perception is there, and is the reality.  Alleged reward systems
are mainly punishment systems anyway.  The majority of the eligible
victims will not get the reward in most ploys.  The majority soon see
the ploy as punishment, and are not at all "motivated."  If for some
reason they are motivated (they desperately need the bonus for a sick
kid maybe) they certainly will not be thinking, "How can I best serve
this company?"  They will be thinking, "How can I make sure I get this
reward?" and will not at all care about who or what gets in his way.

Your "caring" employer would care a lot better if he learned a little
managerial psychology and realized that a reward system will always
hurt his people and his company in the long run.  The "caring"
employer would take the much more difficult path of study, learning,
practicing, and involvement to create an environment where his people
can achieve and get a kick out it.  When he does this, his people will
motivate themselves,... a situation a thousand times more powerful
than "do this and you'll get that."

One of the gurus (I forget which,.. MacGregor??) said you can not
actually motivate anyone.  The trick is to set up a workplace where
the people can accomplish a lot, then they will become motivated.  My
apologies to the guru for phrasing it so poorly.

Your last paragraph gives me hope.  At least you are beginning to
grasp the concept of rewards systems (ploys, schemes, methods,
operations, pick a name) as bribes.  Next maybe you'll begin to grasp
the idea that they are mostly punishment schemes and not rewards at
all.  Then, maybe wishful thinking on my part, you'll grasp how
negative they are overall.

"Keith" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote in message news:<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>...
> :^)  You're right, "Extrinsic motivation schemes can utterly destroy any
> inherent interest in doing the work."  The key word is schemes.  I think the
> old man, however, intended to destroy their interest in pestering him.  The
> story has been used to show an alternative method for resisting abuse than
> with violence.  The old man invested a little money in a strategy that
> worked exactly as planned - no more kids pestering - and without the
> negative effects of more severe abuse had he called the police.
> 
> I wonder how many reward systems which are now perceived as 'bribes'
> actually began when a caring employer decided to recognize an individual's
> contribution in a practical way.  Only the perception of manipulation makes
> that system negative.
> 
> :^)
>