A Carrot a Day: A Daily Dose of Recognition for Your Employees

It’s only fair.

GETTING EVEN

All’s fair in love…and work. According to Stacy Adams, that could be the mantra of unrecognized workers everywhere.

Adams is the author of the Equity Theory, which proposes that once an employee chooses an action that is expected to satisfy his or her needs, the individual assesses the equity, or fairness, of that outcome.

If the employee feels rewarded, they are satisfied and motivated. If the employee feels under-rewarded, he will try one of two approaches: (1) increasing the outcome, or (2) decreasing his input. And, we should tell you, neither is terribly good for business.

To increase the outcome, the employee may:

• Ask for a raise or promotion

• Seek out greater recognition

• Seek new employment

To decrease output, the employee may:

• Become less productive (not work as hard)

• Be absent more frequently

• Cognitively downgrade the skill level or amount of education (not put as much thought into the work)