Intrinsic vs. Extrinsic Rewards To Improve Employee Engagement

Intrinsic vs. Extrinsic Rewards to Improve Employee Engagement https://www.bravowell.com/resources/intrinsic-vs.-extrinsic-rewards-to-...
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April 16, 2019 | E n g a g e m e n t , C u l t u r e
I n t r i n s i c v s . E x t r i n s i c R ewa r d s t o
I m p r ove E m p l o y e e E n g a g e m e n t

W h a t m a ke s y o u r e m p l o y e e s t i c k a n d p u s h t o w a r d g r e a t n e s s ? This is, of
course, not an easy question to answer.
Your workforce boasts incredible diversity and is multidimensional beyond measure.

Unearthing and implementing that one secret element that will excite and motivate
your employees to get to work and perform to their potential can often feel like
magic you don’t have the spell or wand for.
The key to success is to start defining your focus. What are you trying to achieve?
Are you looking to boost employee engagement at work or are you looking to boost
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employee engagement in something specific, like personal health and well-being?

Your tactics to motivate employees will be different depending on your direction. But
before we get into the tactics of motivation, let’s first address the role your culture
plays in strengthening or weakening your efforts.
C u l t u r e a n d M o t i va t i o n i n t h e Wo r k p l a c e
Let’s quickly circle back to our initial question: What makes your employees push
toward greatness?
Or, along the same lines but in more simplistic terms, why do your employees work
for your company?
It’s too easy to say money; we know money isn’t the main reason they spend most of
their waking hours furthering the organization.
Many surveys and studies have strived to understand why people

work. Psychologists Edward Deci and Richard Ryan identified six reasons: play,
purpose, potential, emotional pressure, economic pressure, and inertia.
H ow C a n O r g a n i z a t i o n s I n fl u e n c e Wo r k p l a c e M o t i v a t i o n?
The first three of Deci and Ryan’s reasons are drivers. They’re crucial when
motivating your workforce to do anything.
Employees want to find meaning in the work they do and want to see opportunities
for personal and professional growth and development. You could almost see these
as the first layers of a Maslow’s hierarchy for employee motivation.
By recognizing the desires of your employees a n d e n s u r i n g y o u r c u l t u r e i s
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h y p e r -f o c u s e d o n s u p p o r t i n g t h e i r p l a y , p u r p o s e a n d p o t e n t i a l , you can
build, influence, and sustain a positive work environment that promotes creativity,
respect, productivity, and – above all – continued motivation for greatness. Without
this foundation, your strategy for motivating employees is going to vary widely. Let’s
take a look at the two primary categories for rewards and recognition within the
workplace:
I n t r i n s i c a n d E x t r i n s i c M o t i va t o r s
E x t r i n s i c r e w a r d s are usually financial or tangible rewards given to employees,
such as pay raises, bonuses, and benefits.
• They are extrinsic because they are external to completing the work itself and are
controlled by people other than the employee.
• They can be essential in jump-starting initial buy-in or participation from people

in the initial stages of readiness to change (pre-contemplation or contemplation).
• They usually have limited impact over time if they are not increased.
• They are a powerful lever to reinforce and drive the behaviors that a culture
values most but wouldn’t be the norm without. (e.g. sales commissions,
performance bonuses, etc.)
• T h i n k of t h e m a s a d e fi b r i l l a t o r t o a st o p p e d h e a r t . T h e i r j o b i s t o g e t t h e
heart beating on its own.
I n t r i n s i c r e w a r d s are psychological rewards that employees get from doing

meaningful work and performing it well.
• They are intrinsic because they are internal to the work being done and achieving
them largely depends on one’s own effort.
• They are essential to sustained behavior change.
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• Can be created by allowing employees to do more self-managing and adding

value to their work by innovating, problem-solving and improvising.
• When someone achieves an intrinsic reward, there is a positive emotional

reaction.
• T h i n k o f t h e m a s a p a c e m a ke r f o r a h e a r t t h a t i s a l r e a d y b e a t i n g . T h e i r
j o b i s t o ke e p t h e h e a r t o n - p a c e a n d i n r h y t h m .
T h e P r o b l e m Wi t h S t ra t e g i e s B a s e d o n E x t e r n a l M o t i va t i o n
Extrinsic rewards are still widely used in many organizations for a range of initiatives
and performance, but when they’re meant to increase or sustain employee
engagement in something like personal well-being, the effects can be short-lived for
most people.
Again, the job of the external motivator is to jump-start the “heart” to beat on its
own, just like a defibrillator. A stopped heart needs the external jolt from a
defibrillator or compressions from CPR to get started again, but you don’t need to
keep shocking the heart once it starts beating on its own.
When an extrinsic reward influences someone to engage, the window for sustained
engagement is limited if the individual doesn’t find an intrinsic reason to continue
engaging. That switch from external to internal motivation is critical.
In environments where the culture isn’t rooted in the list of Deci and Ryan’s drivers,
employees tend only to take on extra responsibility or – dare we say it – do what’s
right in complex situations if they are going to see an external reward or payoff.
Employees may work hard in the short-term to avoid a negative consequence, but
this can decrease engagement and job satisfaction over time, leading to burnout
and turnover.
In conclusion, extrinsic rewards and motivators can be used effectively to engage
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employees in a short-term situation to push them towards a goal. If the intrinsic

motivation to meet new goals or the same goals over time isn’t developed or does
not exist in the absence of a once-present extrinsic reward, employee engagement
(in personal wellness especially) can be negatively impacted in the long term.
5 Wa y s t o Rewa rd Yo u r Te a m
Intrinsically
You want a highly-committed, motivated workforce – as every HR professional,
manager, business owner and CEO does.
You know that when your employees are healthy and engaged, your business
performance is better, your client base or customer satisfaction scores increase,
and, eventually, your organization’s revenues and profits grow.
While we’ll never tell you that keeping employees engaged and committed to your
initiatives is easy – especially in today’s distracted workplace – you can certainly
turn things around, pick up the momentum, and sustain a healthy, flourishing,
engaged culture by tapping into your population’s intrinsic motivators.
You can establish, promote and foster intrinsic rewards through a multitude of ways:
1 . G i ve e m p l o y e e s m o r e a u t o n o m y .
Employees crave control and allowing them to take responsibility for their job and
tasks (and ditching a micromanagement approach) will empower employees to take
ownership and pride in their work and see to it that projects are completed with
excellence.
How this applies to wellness: Wellness committees are a perfect place for this to
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happen. Give your committee actual control over decisions (instead of just the
ability to provide input) for things like programming, external events, challenges and
even spending the budget.
2 . E m p owe r y o u r e m p l o y e e s t o b e s e l f - f u l fi l l e d a n d p u r p o s e -
d r i ve n .
Employees want to make a difference. Developing an authentic culture of purpose

that your employees rally around and believe in is vital. A great first step is hiring
motivated, purpose-driven individuals.
But this can also be achieved with your current team by encouraging employees to
find meaning in the work they do and showing them the good that came of their
specific efforts and accomplishments.
How this applies to wellness: Choose personalized interventions and other activities
that meet your employees at any point on their wellness journey. By allowing
employees to learn the skills to live a healthier lifestyle and showing them that their
goals are within reach, they’re more likely to take steps to improve.
When employees can see how their role, or even their personal health, make a
difference in the company and how the company then makes a difference in the
world, they’ll be more invested and motivated all the way around.
3. P r o m o t e s o c i a l i n t e ra c t i o n .
Employees want to connect with their colleagues, especially those on other teams or
in different departments. By encouraging employees to hang out or conduct
business in areas other than their desks, and by allowing them to take a break and
get out of the office to go do something fun together, they can connect, interact,
care, share, be recognized, seek to understand others and so on.
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How this applies to wellness: Create opportunities for employees to learn and
practice healthy behaviors together. Host a breakfast potluck with healthy recipes,
offer to pay for a fitness class for coworkers who attend the class together, or create
a walking group at lunch. Employee lifestyle choices do impact and influence the
choices of their coworkers, so by providing them with ideas and motivation to live
healthier together, they’ll be more likely to do so in their daily life.
4. P r o v i d e o p p o r t u n i t i e s f o r a d v a n c e m e n t .
Employees want to progress and achieve. Human beings – not just employees – do
more and produce better work when they are making progress on something they
care about. So, when trying to motivate employees, give them a clear career path
and let them stretch themselves and demonstrate their skill set.
Through it all, be sure to recognize their efforts and achievements.
5 . I n v e s t i n g i n e m p l o y e e s’ l e a r n i n g , d e v e l o p m e n t a n d w e l l - b e i n g .
Employees want to be appreciated and valued for the hard-working individuals that
they are – on and off the clock.
Continuing education courses, professional development programs, and customized

employee wellness programs are all valuable pieces to the employee engagement
puzzle.
To get the best from employees, your workplace culture and intrinsic rewarding
system must concurrently focus on company goals and objectives and employees’
total quality of life – from work/life balance, to physical and mental health, to social
and financial well-being.
When employees feel like their employer values them as professionals and
individuals, they are more likely to repay this investment through top performances,
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excellent work, and genuine engagement that will advance the culture and
organization.
Re a p t h e B e n e fi t s of H i g h e r E m p l o y e e
E n g a g e m e n t & a H e a l t h i e r Wo r k f o r c e
When the focus is on your employees’ well-being first and foremost, intrinsic
motivators and rewards begin to take care of themselves.
Yo u r o r g a n i z a t i o n c a n i n fl u e n c e wo r k p l a c e m o t i va t i o n b y h o l i s t i c a l l y
i n ve st i n g i n y o u r wo r k f o r c e .
At Bravo, we know that without our health and well-being, we don’t have much.
When an employee doesn’t feel well, is constantly dealing with chronic pain or
illness, is suffering in silence with a mental health issue, or is contending with stress
and anxiety on a daily basis, their work in the company is never top of mind.
They may do what they need to in order to maintain their job, but prospering is not
an option at the moment. Their health and wellness issues trump everything, and
when some (if not most) employees are working just to keep their heads above
water, your culture and company will pay the price in the long run.
Let’s talk about how a wellness solution for your company can enhance employee
engagement and culture.
Get to know Bravo’s configurable employee wellness programs that evolve to meet
your population’s needs over time.
Our programs will work to inspire your employees to achieve their personal best and
protect the benefit plans you’ve worked so hard to build.
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Learn more about the tools and incentives you can use to drive year-round
participation and engagement.
Learn how to control rising healthcare costs with a sustainable

wellness program. D o w n l o a d o u r 8 S t e p s t o R O I i n We l l n e s s
G u i d e to find out how your organization can control rising
healthcare costs, inspire personal improvement to drive down
health risks, and attract and retain top talent.
Topics: E n g a g e m e n t , C u l t u r e
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Watch our recorded webinar to learn how to: create and share your vision for wellness,
determine and overcome the reasons why employees don't engage, deploy personalized
inerventions and make environmental changes to support employees.
LEARN MORE
8 S t e p s t o R O I i n We l l n e s s
With 8 Steps to ROI in Wellness, start to build a clear vision for HOW your organization can
control rising healthcare costs, inspire personal improvement to drive down health risks, and
attract and retain top talent.
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Intrinsic vs. Extrinsic Rewards to Improve Employee Engagement https://www.bravowell.com/resources/intrinsic-vs.-extrinsic-rewards-to-...

Our Programs Results Resources | Contact Login

April 16, 2019 | E n g a g e m e n t , C u l t u r e

Your workforce boasts incredible diversity and is multidimensional beyond measure.

employee engagement in something speciﬁc, like personal health and well-being?

Many surveys and studies have strived to understand why people

By recognizing the desires of your employees a n d e n s u r i n g y o u r c u l t u r e i s

• They can be essential in jump-starting initial buy-in or participation from people

I n t r i n s i c r e w a r d s are psychological rewards that employees get from doing

• They are essential to sustained behavior change.

• Can be created by allowing employees to do more self-managing and adding

• When someone achieves an intrinsic reward, there is a positive emotional

In conclusion, extrinsic rewards and motivators can be used effectively to engage

employees in a short-term situation to push them towards a goal. If the intrinsic

Employees want to make a difference. Developing an authentic culture of purpose

Through it all, be sure to recognize their efforts and achievements.

Continuing education courses, professional development programs, and customized

Learn how to control rising healthcare costs with a sustainable

You might also like