How to Recognize & Reward Employees: 150 Ways to Inspire Peak Performance, Second Edition

Chapter 3. Align Values and Rewards

What management rewards, more than all the mission and value statements ever written, tells employees what is really important to the company.

Note

Be careful. You get what you reward.

When promotions and plum assignments go to people who contribute new ideas and try new ways of doing things, workers get the message that the company is sincere when it professes to value innovation and risk taking. However, leaders who proclaim the importance of taking risks might as well shout into the wind if they surround themselves with lieutenants whose only risk lies in tripping over their feet when they click their heels and say, “Yes, boss.” When the company says one thing and rewards another, the troops know to take their ...