by Toni Whitehouse, Head of Sales Development at Reward Gateway
When you were in elementary school, you probably had a teacher who used some kind of sticker reward chart (I know I did). The concept was simple: The better behaved I was, the more stickers I saw go up. The more stickers I had, the closer I got to picking that something special (and colourful, let’s face it) out of that reward box.
Many businesses have and continue to inspire their employees using this technique. While extrinsic motivators can offer benefits, they are not without their downfalls.
Companies that solely rely on this type of motivation often create toxic work environments that bring on stress and burnout, causing employees to buckle under the (colourful stationary) pressure, resulting in under-performance. Extrinsic motivation is also problematic because it is short-lived and very costly.
Click here to learn more about how employee recognition can help improve intrinsic motivation.