1. Improving Performance with Feedback, Rewards, and Positive Reinforcement
Chapter Eight

2. After reading the material in this chapter, you should be able to:
LO8.1 Specify the two basic functions of
feedback and three sources of feedback.
LO8.2 Define upward feedback and 360-
degree feedback, and summarize the
general tips for giving good feedback.
LO8.3 Distinguish between extrinsic and
intrinsic rewards, and give a job-related
example of each
LO8.1 Specify the two basic functions of feedback and three sources of feedback.
LO8.2 Define upward feedback and 360- degree feedback, and summarize the general tips for giving good feedback.
LO8.3 Distinguish between extrinsic and intrinsic rewards, and give a job-related example of each

3. After reading the material in this chapter, you should be able to:
LO8.4 Summarize the research lessons about pay for performance, and explain why rewards often fail to motivate employees. LO8.5 State Thorndike’s “law of effect” and explain Skinner’s distinction between respondent and operant behavior. LO8.6 Demonstrate your knowledge of positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement, punishment, and extinction and explain behavior shaping
LO8.4 Summarize the research lessons about pay for performance, and explain why rewards often fail to motivate employees.
LO8.5 State Thorndike’s “law of effect” and explain Skinner’s distinction between respondent and operant behavior.
LO8.6 Demonstrate your knowledge of positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement, punishment, and extinction and explain behavior shaping

4. Improving Individual Job Performance
As illustrated in Figure 8–1, rewards are a critical component of a
performance improvement cycle. And just as any particular motivational approach
affects people differently (as you learned in Chapters 6 and 7), so do rewards.

5. Providing Effective Feedback
information about individual or collective performance shared with those in a position to improve the situation
Feedback
information about individual or collective performance shared with those in a position to improve the situation

6. Two Functions of Feedback
Instructional
clarifies roles or teaches new behaviors
Motivational
serves as a reward or promise of a reward
Feedback enhances the effect of specific, difficult goals
Instructional
clarifies roles or teaches new behaviors
Motivational
serves as a reward or promise of a reward
Feedback enhances the effect of specific, difficult goals

7. Question?
Grant is responsible for training new employees. He wants to make sure everyone knows their role in making the firm successful. This is __________ feedback.
Persistent
Motivational
Tutorial
Instructional
The correct answer is “D” – instructional. See previous slide.

8. Sources of Feedback Others Task Oneself
peers, supervisors, lower-level employees, and outsiders
Task
Oneself
Self-serving bias and other perceptual problems can contaminate this source
Others
peers, supervisors, lower-level employees, and outsiders
Task
Oneself
Self-serving bias and other perceptual problems can contaminate this source

9. Behavioral Outcomes of Feedback
Direction
Effort
Persistence
Resistance
Because feedback is intimately related to
the goal-setting process, it involves the same behavioral outcomes: direction, effort,
and persistence.

10. Popularity of Nontraditional Feedback
Traditional performance appraisal systems have created widespread dissatisfaction.
Team-based organization structures are replacing traditional hierarchies.
Multiple-rater systems are said to make feedback more valid than single-source feedback.
1. Traditional performance appraisal systems have created widespread dissatisfaction.
This was clearly evident in a survey of 96 human resource managers:
Sixty-one percent said managers have not been trained on how to properly
assess people; 40 percent say the competencies managers are using to assess
their employees do not accurately reflect the job, and 28 percent report that
managers play favorites.22
2. Team-based organization structures are replacing traditional hierarchies. This
trend requires managers to have good interpersonal skills that are best evaluated
by team members.
3. Multiple-rater systems are said to make feedback more valid than single-source
feedback.

11. Popularity of Nontraditional Feedback
Advanced computer network technology greatly facilitates multiple-rater systems.
Bottom-up feedback meshes nicely with the trend toward participative management and employee empowerment.
Co-workers and lower-level employees are said to know more about a manager’s strengths and limitations.
4. Advanced computer network technology (the Internet and company intranets)
greatly facilitates multiple-rater systems
5. Bottom-up feedback meshes nicely with the trend toward participative management
and employee empowerment.
6. Coworkers and lower-level employees are said to know more about a manager’s
strengths and limitations than the boss

12. Nontraditional Feedback
Upward feedback
lower-level employees provide feedback on a manager’s style and performance
360-Degree feedback
Letting individuals compare their own perceived performance with behaviorally specific (and usually anonymous) performance information from their manager, subordinates, and peers
Upward feedback
lower-level employees provide feedback on a manager’s style and performance
360-Degree feedback
Letting individuals compare their own perceived performance with behaviorally specific (and usually anonymous) performance information from their manager, subordinates, and peers
Typically involve multiple sources of feedback

13. Question?
When Janine evaluates her supervisor, she is providing __________ feedback.
Upward
Downward
Horizontal
Diagonal
The correct answer is “A” – upward feedback
AACSB:  Communication; Group-individual dynamics
Bloom's Taxonomy:  Comprehension Difficulty:  Easy Page:  204

14. Upward Feedback
Managers resist upward feedbacks programs because they believe it erodes their authority
Anonymous upward feedback can become little more than a personality contest
The question of whether upward feedback should be anonymous was addressed by a
study at a large U.S. insurance company. All told, 183 employees rated the skills and
effectiveness of 38 managers. Managers who received anonymous upward feedback
received lower ratings and liked the process less than did those receiving feedback
from identifiable employees. This finding confirmed the criticism that employees
will tend to go easier on their boss when not protected by confidentiality

15. Feedback Do’s and Don’ts
Do not:
Use feedback is used to punish, embarrass, or put down employees.
Provide feedback that is irrelevant to the person’s work.
Provide feedback that is too late to do any good.
Do not:
Use feedback is used to punish, embarrass, or put down employees.
Provide feedback that is irrelevant to the person’s work.
Provide feedback that is too late to do any good.

16. Feedback Do’s and Don’ts
Provide feedback about something that is beyond the individual’s control.
Provide feedback that is overly complex or difficult to understand.
Provide feedback about something that is beyond the individual’s control.
Provide feedback that is overly complex or difficult to understand.

17. Feedback Do’s and Don’ts
Keep feedback relevant by relating it to existing goals.
Deliver feedback as soon as possible to the time the behavior was displayed.
Provide specific and descriptive feedback.
Do:
Keep feedback relevant by relating it to existing goals.
Deliver feedback as soon as possible to the time the behavior was displayed.
Provide specific and descriptive feedback.

18. Feedback Do’s and Don’ts
Focus the feedback on things employees can control.
Be honest, developmental, and constructive.
Facilitate two-way communication—give the other person the opportunity to clarify and respond
4.Focus the feedback on things employees can control.
5. Be honest, developmental, and constructive. Remember, people like to succeed
at work and negative information can be deflating.
6. Facilitate two-way communication—give the other person the opportunity to
clarify and respond

19. Key Factors in Organizational Reward Systems
Despite the fact that reward systems vary widely, it is possible to identify and interrelate
some common components. The model in Figure 8–2 focuses on three important
components: (1) types of rewards, (2) distribution criteria, and (3) desired outcomes.

20. Types of Rewards Extrinsic rewards Intrinsic rewards
financial, material, or social rewards from the environment
Intrinsic rewards
self-granted, psychic rewards
Extrinsic rewards
financial, material, or social rewards from the environment
Intrinsic rewards
self-granted, psychic rewards

21. Question?
Angelo derives pleasure from the task of book writing itself. He can be described as __________ motivated.
Extrinsically
Financially
Materially
Intrinsically
The correct answer is “D” - intrinsically
AACSB:  Group-individual dynamics
Bloom's Taxonomy:  Application Difficulty:  Hard Page:  208

22. Distribution Criteria
Performance: results
tangible outcomes
Performance: actions and behaviors
teamwork, cooperation, risk-taking
Non-performance considerations
contractual
• Performance: results. Tangible outcomes such as individual, group, or organizational
performance; quantity; and quality.
• Performance: actions and behaviors. Such as
teamwork, cooperation, risk taking, and creativity.
• Nonperformance considerations. Customary or
contractual, where the type of job, nature of the
work, equity, tenure, level in hierarchy, etc., are
rewarded

23. Pay for Performance Pay for performance
monetary incentives linking at least some portion of the paycheck directly to results or accomplishments
Pay for performance
monetary incentives linking at least some portion of the paycheck directly to results or accomplishments

24. Why Rewards Fail to Motivate
Too much emphasis on monetary rewards
Rewards lack an “appreciation effect”
Extensive benefits become entitlements
Counterproductive behavior is rewarded
Too long a delay between performance and rewards
Too much emphasis on monetary rewards
Rewards lack an “appreciation effect”
Extensive benefits become entitlements
Counterproductive behavior is rewarded
Too long a delay between performance and rewards

25. Why Rewards Fail to Motivate
Too many one-size-fits-all rewards
Use of one-shot rewards with a short-lived motivational impact
Continued use of demotivating practices such as layoffs, across-the-board raises and cuts, and excessive executive compensation
Too many one-size-fits-all rewards
Use of one-shot rewards with a short-lived motivational impact
Continued use of demotivating practices such as layoffs, across-the-board raises and cuts, and excessive executive compensation

26. Question?
Kim’s company has given all employees a “performance bonus” each year for the past 17 years. Employees have come to expect it no matter what the company’s profitability. Why would this “pay for performance” system fail to motivate employees?
Too much emphasis on monetary rewards
Rewards lack an “appreciation effect”
Extensive benefits become entitlements
Counterproductive behavior is rewarded
The correct answer is “C” – see slide 8-24

27. Thorndike’s Law of Effect
Behavior with favorable consequences tends to be repeated; behavior with unfavorable consequences tends to disappear
Law of effect
Behavior with favorable consequences tends to be repeated; behavior with unfavorable consequences tends to disappear

28. Question?
When Grant is praised for a work behavior, he will try hard to repeat it. This follows the law of ___________.
Affect
Effect
Effectiveness
Efficiency
The correct answer is “B” – effect. See previous slide.

29. Positive Reinforcement
Respondent behavior
Skinner’s term for unlearned reflexes or stimulus-response connections
Operant behavior
behavior that is learned when one “operates on” the environment to produce desired consequences.
Respondent behavior
Skinner’s term for unlearned reflexes or stimulus-response connections
Operant behavior
behavior that is learned when one “operates on” the environment to produce desired consequences.

30. Contingent Consequences in Operant Conditioning
Figure 8-3
Contingent consequences, according to Skinner’s operant theory,
control behavior in four ways: positive reinforcement, negative
reinforcement, punishment, and extinction.60 The term contingent
means there is a systematic if-then linkage between the target behavior and the consequence.
This represents an instrumentality according to expectancy theory. It therefore is
helpful to first think of the target behavior, and then think of the consequence you will
provide when applying contingent consequences (see Figure 8–3).

31. Contingent Consequences
Positive reinforcement
process of strengthening a behavior by contingently presenting something pleasing
Negative reinforcement
strengthens a desired behavior by contingently withdrawing something displeasing
Positive reinforcement
process of strengthening a behavior by contingently presenting something pleasing
Negative reinforcement
strengthens a desired behavior by contingently withdrawing something displeasing

32. Contingent Consequences
Punishment
process of weakening behavior through either the contingent presentation of something displeasing or the contingent withdrawal of something positive
Extinction
Weakening a behavior by ignoring it or making sure it is not reinforced
Punishment
process of weakening behavior through either the contingent presentation of something displeasing or the contingent withdrawal of something positive
Extinction
Weakening a behavior by ignoring it or making sure it is not reinforced

33. Schedules of Reinforcement
Continuous reinforcement
reinforcing every instance of a target behavior
Intermittent reinforcement
reinforcing some but not all instances of a target behavior
Continuous reinforcement
reinforcing every instance of a behavior
Intermittent reinforcement – reinforcing some but not all instances of behavior
Fixed ratio
Variable ratio
Fixed interval
Variable interval

34. Reinforcement Schedules
As indicated in Table 8–1, every instance of a
target behavior is reinforced when a continuous reinforcement (CRF) schedule is
in effect.
Four subcategories of intermittent schedules, described in Table 8–1, are fixed and
variable ratio schedules and fixed and variable interval schedules.

35. Reinforcement Schedules and Performance
Figure 8-4
Figure 8–4 provides an excellent
example. It illustrates “window dressing,” which is the practice banks use to reduce the
amount of debt on their books at the end of each quarter. As you can see, the 18 big
banks represented by this data reduced the amount of debt on their books by an average
of 42% at the end of each quarter.6

36. Shaping Behavior with Positive Reinforcement
reinforcing closer and closer approximations to a target behavior
Shaping
reinforcing closer and closer approximations to a target behavior

37. Shaping Behavior with Positive Reinforcement
Shaping works very well with people, especially in training and quality programs involving continuous improvement.
Praise, recognition, and instructive and credible feedback cost managers little more than moments of their time
Shaping works very well with people, especially in training and quality programs involving continuous improvement.
Praise, recognition, and instructive and credible feedback cost managers little more than moments of their time

38. Shaping Behavior with Positive Reinforcement
The key to successful behavior shaping lies in reducing a complex target behavior to easily learned steps and then faithfully (and patiently) reinforcing any improvement.
The key to successful behavior shaping lies in reducing a complex target behavior to easily learned steps and then faithfully (and patiently) reinforcing any improvement.

39. Question?
Employees at ABC Manufacturing strive to operate at a zero-defect level because each gets publicly recognized for their individual and team accomplishments. This is an example of
Extinction.
Positive reinforcement.
Respondent behavior.
Punishment.
The correct answer is “B” – positive reinforcement
AACSB:  Group-individual dynamics Bloom's Taxonomy:  Application
Difficulty:  Medium Page:  214

40. Video Case: Slacking Off
Are workers from today’s generations exhibiting a “slacker” attitude at work?
Do you think more is being expected of workers today than there was in the past?
Are workers today less productive as a result of having “slacker” attitudes?
Is the nature of work different today than it was in the past? Could this be part of the issue?
This questions is almost impossible to universally answer. The answer will be directly tied to one’s view of work as well as their generation. One has to consider that we have a knowledge based economy today and there is often times no tangible product of our work. People from the days of a manufacturing economy may just not be able to recognize the products of a knowledge worker as being productivity.
One could argue that more is expected of workers today given that technology can serve as an electronic leash for some people. As mentioned in the case, people allow their social life to bleed into their work life and their work life to bleed into their home life. In the past, when the worker left work, they were done for the day.
The question concerning whether or not we are less productive today is also difficult to answer. This may also be the product of one’s vantage point (i.e. what generation they belong to).
Work today is very different than it was in the past. As previously mentioned, we are working in a knowledge based economy that has different products of “labor” than did a manufacturing economy. This could certainly be part of the issue as was previously mentioned.