I am falling more in love with twitter everyday.
While it's still a hot mess of ideas, links, non-sequitors and, in some cases, just crap - there is usually a pony in there somewhere. (note: follow us at @incentintel - thanks - BTW - no crap.) Today, through an twitter search feed I set up for "motivation", I was pointed to a link on the Motivation Blog about the "equity theory" of motivation. I haven't thought about that theory for a while and therefore I thought it deserved some discussion here.
You all know how I feel about motivation theories - especially Maslow (ie: cult-like in its followship) - but equity theory has some interesting points to consider. Again, not saying it is the "theory of everything" for motivation but it does help us understand the need for various ways of presenting awards to our audiences.
First a bit of a primer on equity theory paraphrased from the Motivation Blog post:
"The basic idea behind the Equity Theory is that workers, in an attempt to balance what they put in to their jobs and what they get from them, will unconsciously assign values to each of his various contributions.
...According to the Equity Theory, the most highly motivated employee is the one who perceives his rewards are equal to his contributions. If he feels that he is working and being rewarded at about the same rate as his peers, then he will judge that he is being treated fairly."
The net is that employees do a quick bit of calculus to determine if what you're asking them to do is equal to what they get.
There are naysayers to the theory - mostly around the way in which people calculate equity - not whether they do or not. So let's just say it makes sense that a rational person will look at the request and the reward in the form of an equation.
Impact on Incentive and Reward Programs
This equity theory of motivation plays well with the concept of "trophy value" with non-cash awards. When using non-cash awards - something that doesn't have a stated value - it is more difficult to establish the equity equation in the participants' minds. In other words, they have to decide what the award is worth and compare that to the effort. The great thing about non-cash is that when presented with the "item" or the "experience" in the case of a travel award - the participant doesn't just see the item - they see the experience that surrounds the item. The total "value" of the award is more than the cost to aquire it - it includes the participant's feelings using the award. Plus, everyone is different - and place different values on the item (hence the need for some choice in the process.) Some will place a very high value and work extra hard on the task - much harder than if you had simply offered cash.
This little bit of sleight-of-hand means that in many cases, the award you use for rewarding a behavior in a non-cash program can be less than the cash or debit card award you were considering.
Just keep this in mind when you go to put together a program to influence behavior - your particpants will do the math - the easier you make the equation - the more costly it may be for you!
