This document discusses rewards and recognitions in the workplace and some of the issues with traditional approaches. It notes that human behavior is driven by antecedents, behaviors, and consequences. Antecedents refer to the conditions or prerequisites that precede a behavior. Behaviors will only be repeated if there are positive consequences that follow immediately. Traditional recognition programs like employee of the month can lose their impact because the recognition is not immediate and colleagues do not understand what behaviors led to the recognition. The document advocates for consequences to be both immediate and positive in order to most effectively drive the behaviors organizations want to see repeated.

1.  Divakar Patel 
15th
June 2008

2. Rewards and Recognitions
Double edged sword, if not handled
carefully, can bring more negative
results then positive in long run

3. Human mind…
Humans do things for which they get tangible/non-tangible
in return
Action is valued by its performer by the return it fetches to
him/her
If there is no return to action, there is no guarantee that it
will be repeated willingly in future
Sub-conscious mind always weighs give-and-take before
doing anything. Most of the time people are not even
aware about what drives them, forget about their
mentors/managers/…

4. Some basics…
Every action has some enablers, conditions,
motives, pre-requisites which are called
‘Antecedents’
e.g. Software Engineer wants to do better code re-
architecting , he/she will look for following
antecedents
○ Mentors across the team with whom idea can be
discussed
○ Positive acknowledgement from Manager to go ahead in
spite of schedule variance by bit
○ Constructive review system in place to help him/her
○ His/Her efforts (beyond call of duty) will be recognized and
rewarded if successful

5. Some basics Contd…
HR Trainee thinks that xyz policy change in org
can really help in solving key issues
Antecedents can be as follow
○ Open door policy in HR high ranks
○ Thinking beyond-the-designation is welcomed and not
criticized
○ Mentors helps him/her in evaluating the problem and
suggested solution
○ He/She can attend quick regular training in Org on “High
Impact Power Point”
○ He/She is assured that even if it fails, no harm done

6. Some basics Contd…
Every ‘Antecedents’ is followed by
‘Behavior’
Key eye-opener regarding ‘Behavior’
○ In reality org/system does not have any direct
persistent control over behavior of individuals. It
has control over Antecedents and Consequences
of Behavior.
○ Can we get desired output from Transport
Manager to do best in cab scheduling by just
‘expecting’ this behavior
○ By just ‘expecting’, can we get always the best
output from HR-recruitment person in better
resume searching

7. Some basics Contd…
Every behavior has two widely assumed perquisites,
skill and motivation
Most of the time, Managers lack skill of identifying
gaps in both the two parameters, skill and
motivation
Skill, that is what you are paid for 
Motivation, you better do self-hypnotism 
More damage is done by applying ‘Negative
motivation’, just to take easy and quick approach

8. Some basics Contd…
Negative Motivation is applied by below methods
Using negative peer-competition technique
Threatening by assigning inferior work, sometime
no work
Humiliating in group meetings
Always negating persons view (the same will be
appreciated later detaching the originator from it)
Sometime by just not talking to that person
Negative Motivation does not work in long run for
most of the people
It’s a sign of handicap Leadership and results in
disaster, for both the parties
The biggest looser is system itself, stack holders at
different level failed to do their job

9. Some basics Contd…
Behavior is followed by ‘Consequences’
Type and Timing of consequences decides
whether particular behavior will occur in
future or not in given situation
Consequences are most important yet least
recognized parameter in contemporary
ad-hoc management approach

10. Some basics Contd…
Consequences can be Immediate or in
Future
Consequences can be Positive or Negative

11. Some basics Contd…
What will happen if Consequences are in Future
Disconnect between behavior and
consequences
It looses the impact on Behavior
It does not guarantee whether Behavior will reoccur
or not in future with less frequency and improved
qualitatively

12. Some basics Contd…
Consequences positive or negative
Negative consequences convey that Behavior
should not occur in future
Positive consequences convey that Behavior
should occur in future

13. Some basics Contd…
Think about consequences in below scenario
Manager reads email from Trainee about recent
business update for the product gathered from
internet
Engineers part of the recruitment drive creates set of
question papers without being asked and takes
the lead
Test engineer spends one weekend searching and
evaluating various gnu test tools
Beyond his job and role, engineer creates website to
address KM at work
Spends extra time in learning advance of scripting
language so that it can be used in future
effectively

14. Some basics Contd…
According to human psychology and short memory
for day to day give-n-take analysis
Consequences should be Immediate and Positive
Believe me, only in rare cases you will be forced to
use Immediate Negative consequences

15. R&R : Past and Present
Let’s understand one of widely used R&R
tool

16. Employee Of the Month
EOM, over a period of time becomes
monthly ritual
Everyone knows, there is no chance of
repetition, so why to work hard always
Fails to deliver positive reinforcement
immediately

17. EOM: Pin-point error
Emphasis is on giving award, and not why
exactly the award is given
Collogues fails to understand why exactly
the award is given. Others can not
replicate the same behavior

18. EOM: Delay Error
Delay in giving positive reinforcement
fades away the real purpose of
recognition

19. R&R : Future of Management
To be continued in PART-2