Monday, August 11, 2008

variety of rewards

Someone told me yesterday about a study, which they heard on TV news, that claims to show that non-monetary incentives are generally more effective than cash incentives for motivating employees. The theory is that employees are already making money, and most people are more apt to get excited about a different kind of reward (tickets to a sports game, for example) than an extension of the same reward (more money).

If that's true, then we could expect the same psychological pattern in games. Generally, you'll get more bang out of a different kind of reward than more of the same.

That seems right to me. Variety of rewards is always good. The hard part's ensuring every reward can be appreciated by all.

1 comment:

  1. I listened to a lecture by former head coach of the Red skins, Joe Gibbs not to long ago and he felt the very same way. He would offer incentives to players that performed above and beyond their duty in a game, and these incentives would be such things as being able to sit in a recliner during team meetings or being able to drive Joe Gibb's pick up truck for a week. These guys already had tons of money but they needed something more to motivate them and that seemed to do the job.

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