In The Happiness Advantage, I describe an experience with a leader at a Fortune 100 company who told me, “We don’t need a happiness program, we pay people to be engaged.” This is a surprisingly common refrain from unenlightened leaders, an assumption based upon the belief that pay equals engagement. However, a meta-analysis of the relationship between pay and job satisfaction shows that there is only a small correlation between the two, and that there is much more to the high performance equation than merely income. We know that recognition and intrinsic motivation are important to our success, but the key is finding ways to effectively operationalize them.
The Benefits of Peer-to-Peer Praise at Work
Companies like JetBlue are finding new ways to increase engagement.
February 19, 2016
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New!
HBR Learning
Performance Appraisal Course
Accelerate your career with Harvard ManageMentor®. HBR Learning’s online leadership training helps you hone your skills with courses like Performance Appraisal. Earn badges to share on LinkedIn and your resume. Access more than 40 courses trusted by Fortune 500 companies.
Take the pain out of employee reviews.