rewards vs. recognition

[Dr. Scott Jeffrey]

I just did some research with a graduate student on "reward and recognition". One of the things we struggled with (and still do), is how are these concepts the same and how are they different?

Our take:

Rewards are the physical element of performing at a certain level.
Recognition is praise for doing things

They can be given separately or together, but at some level, they must be correlated.

I welcome the thoughts of participants here.

[Ben Simonton]

I recommend that you read the book "Punished by Rewards" by Alfie Kohn. There are serious negatives associated with rewards most of which are not understood by managerment gurus in general.

Far, far better than rewards is to spend lots of time getting rid of those management practices that disengage employees who all naturally want to be engaged. The most onerous practices are those associated with the top-down command and control approach to managing people, especially the issuance of orders, goals and targets.

Best regards, Ben

[Dr. Scott Jeffrey]

Absolutely... I force my grad students to read Kohn. I know the work well.

My belief is however that rewards must eventually (or at least some times) accompany recognition or it becomes "cheap talk".

The serious issue on rewards is that their loss or failure to earn them is viewed as punishment.

Scott

[Ben Simonton]

You wrote - "My belief is however that rewards must eventually (or at least some times) accompany recognition or it becomes "cheap talk"."

I have proven in practice repeatedly that what you believe is not true. That said, compensation should be reasonable and not too far below the market.

Best regards, Ben

[Dr. Scott Jeffrey]

Perhaps we have different definitions of rewards. I am not talking about a "do this/get that" system, or large bonuses. Rewards can be something as simple as a box of chocolates.

[Ben Simonton]

Perhaps you are right. But then I am unable to dream up any reason I would ever give a subordinate a box of chocolates using company funds. I never did so.

I did once give every person, management and union (over a thousand), a jacket with their organizational name on it and the year, in recognition of the extremely productive year we had achieved. In the other three turnarounds I successfully navigated, I never gave out anything material. But I always gave out a lot of recognition for improved or outstanding performance.

Best regards, Ben