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Maintaining a Happy and Motivated Workforce

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Bonuses Can Backfire:

Maintaining a Happy and Motivated Workforce

For so many years, firms focused on motivating employees by handing out rewards which are extrinsic in the form of compensation systems, while ignoring the other significant reward which is intrinsic in the form of employee recognition programs. Various studies seem to submit that monetary incentives may be more motivating in the short term, but what motivate in the long run are nonfinancial incentives (Robbins & Judge 2013, p. 259). Many firms are becoming more aware of the fact that essential work rewards can be both intrinsic and extrinsic. This paper will attempt to shed some light on how bonuses can backfire by providing answers to the four questions described in the headings below.
1. Do you think that, as a manager, you would use bonuses regularly? Why or why not?
From what I have learned in these chapters, I don’t think I will use bonuses regularly as a manager because they can actually backfire as a reward when used regularly. While bonuses can increase motivation and influence employee loyalty, there could be some very real and unintended results. Once you start giving out bonuses monthly, quarterly or annually, it ceases to be a reward; it becomes a benefit and employees will feel entitled to it even if the bonus is based on performance measures. The workers may then feel demoted or penalized if there is a change in reward policies or when objectives are not met (Avey, 2000, p. 14).
I personally believe in combining employee recognition programs with some form of unexpected small bonuses. As indicated in the case study, employees will shape much of their behavior base on what gets rewarded in the organization. They experience the values of the organization by observing which activities are rewarded and which are penalized. As a manager, I want to be careful not to create a

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