Use of Rewards and Punishment as Motivations - Essay Example

Essentially the people who have greater power are often the one in control of what motivational tool to use in order motivates the members of the organisation. Notably a long held method for motivating people within a group has been through reward and punishment with the rationale for such motivations being that people often have the desire to avoid punishments and gain rewards (Deci and Ryan, 2008). While leaders may tap into such motivations in order to control resources and tools of sanctioning, there has been a wide debate as to the efficiency in the use of rewards and punishment given that such method of motivation is extrinsic, and the human mind may respond differently to rewards and punishment.

This paper argues against the notion that people in powerful positions in organisations must use rewards and punishment in order to motivate other members of the organisation. While the use of rewards and punishment is a widely used tool for motivation in various institutions and organisations, it is hardly challenged especially taking into account the desirability of rewards such as praise or monetary rewards. Reward entails the use a positive reinforcer to encourage certain behaviours, while punishment is the use of a negative reinforcer to deter undesirable behaviours.

The use of rewards and punishment is an idea that was popularised by Skinner in the 1930s where he noted that humans were motivated by external factors where people responded to expectations of rewards for desirable behaviour and punishment for undesirable behaviour (Strickler, 2006). Skinner’s view has been deeply entrenched in most organisations’ motivational strategies where members of an organisation would be highly motivated with an opportunity for higher earning. This theory makes sense since truly people do get motivated by financial incentives as noted by the high level of programs such as performance reviews, bonus programs, and merit pay programs that have infiltrated society from schools, homes and organisations.

Over the past decade, other studies have shown that by trying to manipulate or condition people in following certain desirable behaviours has not been an effective method for ensuring long term motivation. For instance Kohn (1993) in his book shows that using rewards and punishment as motivational tools only produce short term results while it is detrimental in the long term as it encourages internal competition for rewards where when there is no reward, people would not be motivated, and also destroys intrinsic motivation and relationships.

Essentially group cohesiveness and social arousal are essential motivators that can be nurtured in environments that that build relationships rather than one which pits the members against each other in competition. Deci and Ryan (2000) in their work also show that the use of rewards and punishment assumes that human beings are innately lazy and unmotivated, yet that is not true in its entirety as human beings are often have motivations that only need to be boosted. Tyler (2002) in his study of motivations for members in an organisation to cooperate, note that while rewards ad punishment are important, they would not in their entirety enable sustainable motivation as they do not draw out individuals internal motivations that appeals to a person’s values and attitudes.

A focus in competing for rewards is not the best way to motivate cooperation among members. In addition, withdrawal of rewards that was already there for one reason or another may be deemed as punishment even if that is not so. Indeed Deci and Ryan