Wednesday, March 04, 2009
Job Satisfaction, Rewards and Recognition.
This topic seems to have popped up around me quite often recently. It seems to be one of the hotter HR issues, at least at my workplace.
When you think about this topic, what comes to your mind? Monetary rewards? Verbal praise? Awards like Staff of the Month?
I hadn't given it all that much serious thought till my friend brought this topic up again yesterday. Basically, her friend and herself stand on different sides of the fence on this issue. One feels that she doesn't get any praise for jobs well done but punished for mistakes whereas my friend feels that she does not require any praise to do her job well.
If I understand my friend correctly, her rationale is that she feels that she is being paid to do her job well and she enjoys her work therefore she does not require any praise or reward to encourage her to do her job well.
Her friend's gripe is about what I call the Negative Reinforcement System where you do not get rewarded for jobs well done but instead you are punished for mistakes. Perhaps most people would prefer a Positive Reinforcement System where good work is recognised or rewarded.
Perhaps some people would argue that we are all paid to do a job so we should do a good one at that. Some others may argue that I can just do a job but I need not do it well should I not have chosen to do so, as such my efforts should be recognised.
However, if you think about it really hard, you will come to realise that both these people actually want the same thing.
I was thinking today about how some people need rewards and praise while others seemingly do not. I came to the conclusion that the concept of 'Reward' needs to be redefined. Once it is redefined, it is then easy to see why the two of them actually want the same thing.
They don't want the same thing, you may be thinking.
That's where my amazing skill of throwning random smoke bombs comes in handy!
Now let's look at case 1: Person who needs praise or rewards for a job well done.
This is an obvious case of someone needing rewards or recognition of some kind. They have already said it up front, how ambiguous can it get? Some people would like monetary rewards and some may like praise. Praise may come in the form of a simple pat on the back, or a staff award.
Conclusion: Reward is a positive value.
Case 2: Person who does not need any reward and feels that they are paid to do their job well and should not need additional rewards just because they did a good job.
Now, you may think that such people are workaholics (and I do think so actually), or that they are just plain silly for working their lives away for the company.
Let's look into this just a little more. Put ourselves in the shoes of these people.
1) They feel that they are paid to do a good job.
Therefore, when they do a good job, they feel good about it. They feel that they have fulfilled their set goals. They have achieved something important to them. Key point: They feel good.
2) They enjoy their work.
If they truely and thoroughly enjoy their work, then the process itself is an enjoyment for them. Slackers like me will never understand this but as we Teochews always say 一样米养百样人。
Key point: They feel good.
Now, as you can see the key points for the 2 little scenarios that I set is the same. They feel good. So what do the people who want rewards feel when they get rewarded? They feel good. That feeling is a reward.
See what I mean about the fact that these 2 people actually wanting the same thing? It is merely that one expresses it in more tangible terms and the other expressed it in more intangible terms.
Since my brain was working overtime today, I got to thinking about something else as well. For the people who feel that since they are paid to do a job, they should not need additional rewards, to what extent will they consider something as part of their job? If something that is not in their job scope is given to them, will they still consider it as part of what they were paid for and do it well without expectation of additional rewards or recognition of any kind?
Hmmm.
0 Adorations
This topic seems to have popped up around me quite often recently. It seems to be one of the hotter HR issues, at least at my workplace.
When you think about this topic, what comes to your mind? Monetary rewards? Verbal praise? Awards like Staff of the Month?
I hadn't given it all that much serious thought till my friend brought this topic up again yesterday. Basically, her friend and herself stand on different sides of the fence on this issue. One feels that she doesn't get any praise for jobs well done but punished for mistakes whereas my friend feels that she does not require any praise to do her job well.
If I understand my friend correctly, her rationale is that she feels that she is being paid to do her job well and she enjoys her work therefore she does not require any praise or reward to encourage her to do her job well.
Her friend's gripe is about what I call the Negative Reinforcement System where you do not get rewarded for jobs well done but instead you are punished for mistakes. Perhaps most people would prefer a Positive Reinforcement System where good work is recognised or rewarded.
Perhaps some people would argue that we are all paid to do a job so we should do a good one at that. Some others may argue that I can just do a job but I need not do it well should I not have chosen to do so, as such my efforts should be recognised.
However, if you think about it really hard, you will come to realise that both these people actually want the same thing.
I was thinking today about how some people need rewards and praise while others seemingly do not. I came to the conclusion that the concept of 'Reward' needs to be redefined. Once it is redefined, it is then easy to see why the two of them actually want the same thing.
They don't want the same thing, you may be thinking.
That's where my amazing skill of throwning random smoke bombs comes in handy!
Now let's look at case 1: Person who needs praise or rewards for a job well done.
This is an obvious case of someone needing rewards or recognition of some kind. They have already said it up front, how ambiguous can it get? Some people would like monetary rewards and some may like praise. Praise may come in the form of a simple pat on the back, or a staff award.
Conclusion: Reward is a positive value.
Case 2: Person who does not need any reward and feels that they are paid to do their job well and should not need additional rewards just because they did a good job.
Now, you may think that such people are workaholics (and I do think so actually), or that they are just plain silly for working their lives away for the company.
Let's look into this just a little more. Put ourselves in the shoes of these people.
1) They feel that they are paid to do a good job.
Therefore, when they do a good job, they feel good about it. They feel that they have fulfilled their set goals. They have achieved something important to them. Key point: They feel good.
2) They enjoy their work.
If they truely and thoroughly enjoy their work, then the process itself is an enjoyment for them. Slackers like me will never understand this but as we Teochews always say 一样米养百样人。
Key point: They feel good.
Now, as you can see the key points for the 2 little scenarios that I set is the same. They feel good. So what do the people who want rewards feel when they get rewarded? They feel good. That feeling is a reward.
See what I mean about the fact that these 2 people actually wanting the same thing? It is merely that one expresses it in more tangible terms and the other expressed it in more intangible terms.
Since my brain was working overtime today, I got to thinking about something else as well. For the people who feel that since they are paid to do a job, they should not need additional rewards, to what extent will they consider something as part of their job? If something that is not in their job scope is given to them, will they still consider it as part of what they were paid for and do it well without expectation of additional rewards or recognition of any kind?
Hmmm.
Comments:
Post a Comment
