To maintain a happy customer a company must have a happy employee. There is a general consensus of the belief “if rewards are given for a particular action, more desired behaviors will result and punishing results in less of those behaviors.” However, according to an incentive experiment held at MIT, the findings revealed monetary rewards only worked for mechanical tasks. Cognitive tasks with the same monetary rewards fell flat with very poor performance. As a general conclusion, the highest incentive offered always results with the poorest performance.These findings were so astounding the experiment was recreated in different places all over the world and each ended the same way.
To ensure happy and productive employees, the feelings of autonomy, mastery and purpose are crucial to success. This begins with a company’s mission, values, and corporate culture.