Know What Rewards are Actually Rewarding

Dec 10, 2024

Donuts in the breakroom? Bonuses? Promotions?

When I say the phrase, "Rewards at Work", what comes to mind for you?

It turns out that “Rewards at Work” are not only about the first thing that comes to mind and that they have profound implications for how we feel about our workplaces.

First let’s clarify that rewards at work are not just financial.

Sure, everyone loves extra money in their pocket but it turns out that what constitutes a rewarding work environment is about a lot more than just money.

Rewards at work also include:

the social status of public recognition,
a sense of belonging from feeling appreciated, and
the fulfillment of doing work we are good at and that needs doing.

So let’s break it down…and as we do, think about which of these are important to you (and if you are a team or organizational leader, what do you know about what is important to those you lead).

Social Rewards

Social rewards are about the recognition that makes us feel like we belong and are an important part of something. A few things about social rewards:

Maintaining a culture of appreciation requires everyone to participate. In fact, we feel a sense of reward by being appreciated as well as by appreciating others.
When management recognizes employees, people have the idea that it may have career or promotion implications, but being praised by a colleague, though less official, can be seen as more sincere and therefore more coveted.

Intrinsic Rewards

Intrinsic Rewards give us that warm, fuzzy, purposeful feeling. They are things like:

the sense of satisfaction of a job well done,
experiencing a sense of mastery,
getting to flex our capabilities, or
knowing that our efforts matter.

Extrinsic Rewards

Extrinsic Rewards are things like awards, bonuses, promotions, and compensation.

Extrinsic rewards can be complicated because they don’t exist in a vacuum. We compare the extrinsic rewards we receive to those others receive and, consciously or not, use them to compare our standing to others in our workplace.

It is important that these types of rewards have a lot of transparency behind them, especially when meant to reflect differences in performance or responsibilities. When the processes behind these rewards aren’t transparent, people question how performance is measured.

We want to feel as if our effort is in line with our reward but we also want to feel as if we are rewarded fairly compared to others.

So how is your workplace measuring up in the Rewards category?

Something to Try

When there is a mismatch between what you are experiencing and what you expect or want with regard to reward, it is tempting to think that you can’t do anything about it.

But remember my three favorite questions:

What can you do by yourself?
What can you do with others?
What can you influence others to do?

Chances are, you can do something.

Likely you can help build a culture of appreciation no matter where in the organization you sit.
Since rewards must matter to the people receiving them, perhaps you can find a way to ask for what you want (either on your own or with others).
Rewards must be credible (appearing fair and without favoritism, which often requires transparency around who is making reward-related decisions, who is considered for them, the criteria, etc.) So can you raise awareness about what seems fair and what doesn’t?
If you are in charge, start asking questions. Find out what in the reward category irritates people rather than leaves them feeling warm fuzzies.

Rewards that don’t meet these characteristics can feel irritating rather than gratifying and an irritating reward can not only feel unrewarding, it can also be a big contributor to burnout.

_{Reference: "The Burnout Challenge" by Christinia Maslach and Michael P. Leiter}