Effectiveness Of Rewards And Sanctions In The Workplace

When there is no consequence for poor work ethic, and no reward for good work ethic, there would be no orderliness and motivation. A workplace has to have laid down rules that guide the attitudes of staff and penalize them when they go contrary to such rules. For instance, late coming to the workplace has to attract punishment or fine, but when it is tolerated and treated with levity, there would be an increase in late coming because nobody was penalized.

This often leads to disorderliness in the workplace. Imagine a school that does not punish latecomers for coming late to school. There would be an increase in the level of late coming because no student was punished which is meant to serve as a deterrent to others. Also, committed employees should be rewarded where necessary, it serves as a morale booster. Rewards and sanctions as tools in the workplace are usually used to pass a message to the staff that performance is important. Most times, what motivates employees’ performance is if there are rewards that reinforce good performance or negative consequences for poor performance.

The main essence of rewards and sanctions is to regulate employee behavior and performance at the workplace. Most times, the success of an organization is usually traced to how the organization motivates its employees through rewards. Sanctions on the other hand, which are usually carried out in response to unacceptable behavior against work policies, conduct codes, etc, is a strong tool that helps an organization reap positive performance rewards. Sanction shapes employee behavior to act and behave in a particular way to ensure that set organizational goals are achieved.

Once employees fully understand how they are expected to behave in an organization, and what the result of misconduct can cause, then obviously the purpose of the disciplinary sanction will be achieved. In an organization, the main aim of sanctions is corrective rather than punitive. Rewards and sanctions influence employees’ performance in the workplace. When there are no rewards, it often leads to low productivity. Employees begin to feel that they are not being appreciated enough and wouldn’t want to give the work their best effort. Some can even decide to intentionally be absent from work probably because of lack of motivation.

Also once there are no sanctions of wrong behavior of employees, it creates room for chaos and disorderliness. If an organization fails to sanction an erring staff who probably committed sexual misconduct. Once such an act goes without proper punishment, more cases of such are likely to occur because the first case was overlooked and not properly handled. It gives room for so many other wrong behaviors. Any organization that fails to implement the concept of rewards and sanctions is headed for failure because these things are often the prerequisite to the success of an organization.

Naturally, individual employees in exchange for hard work and commitment expect certain extrinsic and intrinsic rewards. According to research, rewarded employees tend to work harder and better when an organization shows proper concern about their well-being and properly rewards them for their effort. When employees notice that their efforts result in rewards, they are usually motivated to work harder which encourages them to reach the organization’s strategic goals.

The success of an organization is usually based on how they keep their employees motivated and in what way they evaluate the performance of employees for rewards and sanctions.

Conclusion

Organizations must ensure that employees are properly rewarded for their efforts because it always has a positive impact on improving their work performance. Once their work performance is increased, it leads to the success of the organization in achieving set goals. Rewards encourage them that their efforts don’t go unnoticed. Sanctions on the other hand must be properly implemented when necessary to avoid disorderliness in the organization. What an organization tolerates will often result in a norm.