Isn't having a job reward enough?

I once overheard that comment in a company I was working in. Thankfully the attitude has largely gone now and companies understand that reward, motivation and output are interlinked. But I am still not sure we understand the fundamentals of Reward.

In some industries, especially financial services and some consultancies, financial rewards are so large that no other rewards seem to be needed.  For most of us though that’s not the case. In fact, working life is tough. People regularly work 10-15 hour days, and this under the constant threat of potential reorganisation and job loss.

So how as a manager can we Reward our people? The money isn't there for massive salary hikes. The stability isn't there to promise career progression. We have seen a lot of unhappy people in the workplace over the last year.

Interestingly though, people under much tougher circumstances often describe their experience as 'Rewarding' In the army for example. Life under threat, colleagues shot or blown up. Yet most soldiers describe their army life as 'Rewarding'. A recruitment website states "Becoming a Soldier can be challenging, but it's also a rewarding life." This seems to be the view amongst the majority of soldiers. Why else take a job on low pay with an explicit threat of death or injury? There must be some reward in there somewhere.

There is. It’s called Camaraderie. One of the most fundamental drivers of the human being, a sense of belonging, being accepted, being needed, supporting and being supported. And what is a clear indication of high levels of Camaraderie? Humour.

Soldiers will laugh at the weirdest of things. Some may call their humour black, but it helps survive atrocious experiences. And the joke playing, joke making environment in the army is evident even in the most fraught situations.

How much do we laugh at work? That’s probably one of the most fundamental rewards we as managers can provide. Laughter. That builds camaraderie, and a sense of reward. Whatever we go through, we go through together, and we laugh about it. I must confess, the most productive teams I have ever worked in have always had an intense and constant sense of humour. Sometimes we were helpless with laughter. But hey we were productive.

I propose a laughter index as a way of measuring managers' performance. A microphone on the wall should do it, and a volume indicator directly related to managers pay scales. If the room goes quiet the manager gets paid less.

And if you are chuckling a little at the thought, then maybe there was some reward in reading this article.



Mark Miller is Director of Goodfoot., click here for further details