Reward

Abstract

This chapter explores the strategies behind reinforcing and motivating behavior. The chapter begins with Petrovich Pavlov’s unwitting discovery of reinforcement triggers that lay at the foundation for how employers reward their workers. A study by B. F. Skinner on superstition demonstrates what happens when the links between behavior and reward are misaligned, while a consideration of the research on learned helplessness demonstrates how employees can become disenfranchised from their work after repeated failure or criticism. The chapter ends with delayed gratification and what preschool children taught us about restraint and future success. Despite an abundance of knowledge about reward, organizations utilize only the tip of the iceberg when motivating employees.