Carrots and Sticks Don’t Work – Build a Culture of Employee Engagement with the Principles of RESPECT – Paul L. Marciano, Ph.D.


Paul Marciano is a clever guy with an impressive track record, and so it shouldn’t be a surprise that there’s a lot to love in his book. He’s an entrepreneur, consultant and speaker, as well as the president of HR consultancy Whiteboard. He’s also earned masters and doctorate degrees in clinical psychology at Yale University, as well as serving on the faculties at both Princeton University and Davidson College.

So you could say that he knows a thing or two about the way people work and what makes them tick. In this book, he distils his experience of working with and motivating people to share “the latest research on what really gets people to go the extra mile”. The full title of the book says it all – Carrots and Sticks Don’t Work: Build a Culture of Employee Engagement with the Principles of RESPECT™.  (Check out the latest price on Amazon HEREOpens in a new tab.)

Dr. Marciano puts it best himself on the inside cover, where he explains, “Reward and recognition programs can be costly and inefficient, and they primarily reward employees who are already highly engaged and productive performers. Worse still, these programs actually decrease employee motivation, because they can make individual recognition, rather than the overall success of the team, the goal.”

That’s pretty much all you need to know to see why the carrot and stick approach doesn’t work, but we’re only just getting started. Let’s jump in and take a look at what else Marciano has to teach us, as well as how we can use his acclaimed RESPECT™ model to assess, troubleshoot and resolve engagement issues in the workplace.

Carrots and Sticks Don’t Work – Build a Culture of Employee Engagement with the Principles of RESPECT™

It’s not often that a business book starts with a Mae West quote, but this one is a worthwhile exception. “The only carrots that interest me are the number of carats in a diamond,” she said, and when it comes to the idea of using a “carrot-on-a-stick” to encourage employees, Dr. Marciano agrees.

To argue his point, he shares a brief history of human motivation, dipping into notable scientific and philosophical studies including Frederick Taylor’s 1911 essay The Principles of Scientific Management. It’s a welcome change in a world in which many business books rely too heavily on anecdotal case studies as opposed to peer-reviewed scientific research.

Dr. Marciano says that we have to change our expectations in a changing world, which brings us on to the chapter on how reward and recognition programs don’t work. “Most programs intended to motivate employees actually end up creating an overall deficit in employee motivation,” he says. “While a handful of employees may be reinforced, many are left feeling punished. Programs that do elicit short-term benefits typically end up creating significant morale problems down the road. It’s similar to retailers who advertise ‘zero down and no payments for six months.’ It sounds good now, but in the end it’s going to cost you a whole lot more.”

Twenty Reasons Why Reward and Recognition Programs Don’t Work

Still think that rewards programs are good enough to keep people motivated? Think again. Dr. Marciano doesn’t have just one reason why you should look elsewhere – he has twenty:

  1. 1. Programs fail because they’re programs
  2. 2. Rewards aren’t necessarily reinforcing
  3. 3. Programs are too narrowly focussed
  4. 4. Programs focus on the wrong dependent variable
  5. 5. Goals can limit performance
  6. 6. Inconsistent and unfair administration
  7. 7. Added stress for supervisors
  8. 8. Programs foster cheating
  9. 9. Programs destroy teamwork
  10. 10. Programs are cover-ups for ineffective supervisors
  11. 11. Programs offer a weak reinforcement schedule
  12. 12. Giving gifts is not a reinforcement program
  13. 13. Programs reduce creativity and risk taking
  14. 14. Extrinsic reinforcement reduces intrinsic motivation
  15. 15. Wrong behaviours are rewarded
  16. 16. Everybody’s a winner
  17. 17. Programs are manipulative
  18. 18. Program architects are generally not experts
  19. 19. Programs have no impact on workplace culture
  20. 20 Reward programs decrease overall motivation

But if reward and recognition programs are off the table, where can we turn instead? Dr. Marciano suggests that we need to look to employee engagement, and indeed he dedicates a chapter to identifying the differences and similarities between engagement and motivation. The two are related but not identical, and a motivated employee can be disengaged and vice versa. He even provides a framework that you can use to assess employee engagement and to identify who might need help.

The RESPECT™ Model: Building a Culture of Employee Engagement

“Respect is the cornerstone of both our personal and professional relationships,” Marciano explains. “Without respect, relationships don’t work. As our level of respect grows for an individual, so does our level of engagement. And when we lose respect, we disengage. It is difficult, if not impossible, to feel a sense of commitment to a person, team or organisation that one disrespects.”

The good news is that his fourth chapter is dedicated entirely to understanding and gaining respect, which brings us on to the idea of the Circle of RESPECT. Based on research in the field of engagement, the Circle of RESPECT identifies five areas in which employees experience feelings of either respect or disrespect:

  1. 1. Organisation: This includes its missions, vision, values, goals, policies and actions.
  2. 2. Leadership: “Especially as it concerns their direct supervisor, believing that he or she is competent and ethical, makes good decisions and treats people fairly.”
  3. 3. Team members: We need to be able to believe that our colleagues are competent, cooperative, honest, supportive and pulling their weight.
  4. 4. Work: People are looking for work that’s challenging, rewarding, interesting and adding value both internally and externally.
  5. 5. Individual: Dr. Marciano defines this as “feeling respected by the organisation, supervisor, and fellow team members”.

As for the RESPECT™ model, it’s an acronym that highlights seven critical drivers that influence an employee’s internal assessment of respect and their subsequent engagement level:

  1. 1. Recognition: Employees need to feel acknowledged and appreciated for the work that they do.
  2. 2. Empowerment: Supervisors need to empower their employees with the tools, resources and training that they need to get their job done.
  3. 3. Supportive feedback: Dr. Marciano defines this by explaining, “Supervisors provide employees with timely, specific feedback in a supportive, sincere and constructive manner.”
  4. 4. Partnering: In other words, employees need to be treated as business partners and not just as assets or as hireable commodities. Team members and departments need to proactively communicate and share information.
  5. 5. Expectations: Supervisors need to ensure that goals, objectives and priorities are established and understood so that employees can hold themselves accountable for meeting expectations.
  6. 6. Consideration: You know that old saying that you should treat people the way you want to be treated? Consideration is all about extending that level of caring and consideration to colleagues and co-workers.
  7. 7. Trust: Trust is vital in our modern business world, and it’s arguably more vital to have trust between employees and the company than it is for customers to trust the company. After all, without employees who trust each other, there is no company.

The RESPECT™ Model

The rest of the book is dedicated to digging into the RESPECT model, with chapters on each of the seven constituents of the acronym. It starts with recognition. Marciano says, “The greatest specific benefit of recognition is its ability to replicate behaviour, that is, make it more likely to occur again. Crucially, reinforcement makes the behaviour more likely to occur again unprompted. In other words, today’s reinforcement creates tomorrow’s initiative.”

Empowering your employees consists of a lot of things. You need to give them the tools, training and resources that they need, of course, but you need to do much more than just that. You need to create a culture in which people feel empowered to try new things, to request help when they need it and to adopt new technologies early, even when it can seem counterproductive. Theodore Roosevelt put it best when he said, “The best executive is the one who has the sense enough to pick good men to do what he wants done, and self-restraint enough to keep from meddling with them while they do it.”

When it comes to providing supportive feedback, Dr. Marciano explains that it “arms employees with information to help focus, shape and direct their behaviour.” He also provides a self-assessment quiz that’s designed to help you to identify whether your organisation is doing a good job of things or not. There’s even a fantastic section on throwing out the dreaded performance review.

That brings us on to partnering, a concept which “transcends teamwork and implies a degree of autonomy, discretion, equality, openness, power and ownership that blurs traditional management-employee boundaries.” Marciano notes that as well as partnering with employees, we must also partner with suppliers, providers and other vendors. “When we respect people,” Marciano says, “we treat them as equals and partners. In so doing, you will dramatically increase their performance and productivity.”

Then there are expectations, and Marciano has another quiz here to help you to identify whether you’re meeting the expectations of both your employees and your customers. One of the most important things you can do here is to be specific, because being specific and providing examples of what you expect can help your employees to know exactly what they need to do. Where possible, use SMART goals: Specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and timely.

Next up is consideration, which Marciano says is one of the quickest, easiest and most effective ways to increase employee engagement. “Time and again,” Marciano says, “research participants shared stories of considerate acts by supervisors that demonstrated the impact of consideration on respect, engagement and loyalty. Among the many diverse stories, the most common theme involved a personal or family health issue.”

And finally, we’re on to the subject of trust. Marciano says that there’s been a major decline in trust during the first years of the 21st century, particularly when it comes to financial institutions, politicians and big businesses. Companies must be able to engender trust at every touchpoint, and luckily Marciano goes into great detail here with a bunch of actionable strategies that end in a range of best practices for building trust:

  1. 1. Keep your word
  2. 2. Admit mistakes
  3. 3. Give credit
  4. 4. Take the bullet
  5. 5. Straight talk
  6. 6. Transparency
  7. 7. Communicate
  8. 8. Confidentiality
  9. 9. Flextime
  10. 10. Company money
  11. 11. Policy audit
  12. 12. Increase autonomy
  13. 13. Ask and act
  14. 14. Playback
  15. 15. “I don’t know”
  16. 16. Have their back
  17. 17. Trust your employees
  18. 18. “I trust you”

Conclusion

We’ve covered a lot of ground today, but there’s plenty more still for you to discover if you pick up a copy of this book and give it a read. Dr. Marciano shares so much information in his book that we could never cover it all here, but we hope that we’ve at least given you a good reason to give it a read.

All of the information that Marciano shares here is backed by solid scientific research and years of experience in the field, and he’s perfected the balance of giving the reader both the research and the practical applications that it can have for your business. The result is a book that’s both practical and grounded in theory, and that’s good news for everyone.

If you do pick up this book, take our advice and read it with a pen and paper so that you can take notes as you go. Be sure to jot down actions that you plan to take as well as notes on the theories and studies that underline them. Then you can revisit your notes once you’re done.

So, if you haven’t picked up a copy of Carrots and Sticks Don’t Work then think about giving it a go. It’s surprisingly gripping and simultaneously packed full of useful little titbits that will change the way you think about motivating and engaging your employeesOpens in a new tab.. And once you get it right, you can expect to see a big impact both in staff satisfaction and in your business’ bottom line. Good luck.  (Check out the latest price on Amazon HEREOpens in a new tab.)

 

Read Open Sourced Workplace Book Reviews:

The Elemental Workplace Opens in a new tab.by Neil Usher 

The Employee Experience Advantage Opens in a new tab.by Jacob Morgan

Bold: How to Go Big, Create Wealth and Impact the World Opens in a new tab.by Peter Diamandis and Steven Kotler

The Future Brain Opens in a new tab.by Dr. Jenny Brockis

Radical Candor Opens in a new tab.by Kim Scott

Why We Sleep Opens in a new tab.by Matthew Walker, PhD

The Best Place to Work Opens in a new tab.by Ron Friedman, PhD

How Google Works Opens in a new tab.by Eric Schmidt and Jonathan Rosenberg

The Employee Experience Opens in a new tab.by Tracey Maylett, EdD and Matthew Wride, JD

The Culture Code Opens in a new tab.by Daniel Coyle

The Toyota Engagement Opens in a new tab.by Tracey Richardson and Ernie Richardson

The Healthy Workplace Opens in a new tab.by Leigh Stringer

The Future of Work – Attract New Talent, Build Better Leaders, and Create a Competitive Organization by Jacob Morgan

Big Data: A Revolution That Will Transform How We Live, Work, and Think Opens in a new tab.by Viktor Mayer-Schönberger and Kenneth Cukier

Lead Your Tribe, Love Your Work Opens in a new tab.– Piyush Patel

HR On Purpose Opens in a new tab.– Steve Browne

Work Rules Opens in a new tab.– Laszlo Bock

Peak Performance Opens in a new tab.by Brad Stulberg & Steve Magness

The Future Workplace Experience Opens in a new tab.– Jeanne C. Meister and Kevin J. Mulcahy

Recommended Personal Development Books

1. Rich Dad Poor DadOpens in a new tab. by Robert Kiyosaki: 

2. The 4-Hour WorkweekOpens in a new tab. by Tim Ferriss: 

3. How to Win Friends and Influence PeopleOpens in a new tab. by Dale Carnegie: 

4. The 48 Laws of Power Opens in a new tab.by Robert Greene: 

5. The Way of the Superior ManOpens in a new tab. by David Deida:

6. Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl: 

7. MasteryOpens in a new tab. by George Leonard: 

8. Mindfulness for BeginnersOpens in a new tab. by Jon Kabat-Zinn: 

9. The Obstacle is the WayOpens in a new tab. by Ryan Holiday: 

Steve Todd

Steve Todd, founder of Open Sourced Workplace and is a recognized thought leader in workplace strategy and the future of work. With a passion for work from anywhere, Steve has successfully implemented transformative strategies that enhance productivity and employee satisfaction. Through Open Sourced Workplace, he fosters collaboration among HR, facilities management, technology, and real estate professionals, providing valuable insights and resources. As a speaker and contributor to various publications, Steve remains dedicated to staying at the forefront of workplace innovation, helping organizations thrive in today's dynamic work environment.

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