The Truth About Managing People, Third Edition

Truth 18. You Get What You Reward

A management consultant specializing in police research noticed that, in one community, officers would come on duty for their shift, proceed to get into their police cars, drive to the highway that cut through the town, and speed back and forth along this highway for their entire shift. Clearly, this fast cruising had little to do with good police work. But this behavior made considerably more sense once the consultant learned that the community’s city council used mileage on police vehicles as a measure of police effectiveness. The city council unintentionally was rewarding “putting lots of miles on police cars,” so that’s what officers emphasized.

Managers routinely reward employee behaviors they’re trying ...