The carrot and stick approach was first used by owners of donkeys in order to keep their animals moving. Whenever the animal stopped, the rider used to dangle a raw carrot in front of the animal's nose. And if the stubborn animal still refused to move, then guess what happened? The owner gave it a sound thrashing with a stick! When you adopt the carrot and stick approach, you are getting someone to do what you want him to by rewarding him. You give him something valuable, something he wants. If he fails to do what you want him to, then you punish him. You make something bad happen to him. So when a Minister says that he is going to adopt a carrot and stick policy, is he implying that he is the master and we are all asses? Not really. (At least I don't think so!) All that he is saying is that he is going to reward those who do their job and punish those who don't.
*The teachers use both the carrot and the stick to make sure that the students do their work.
*The Government says that it favours a carrot and stick approach to get unemployed people back to work.
ound: ound: ound:
The relativity of motivation
Motivation is that which energises, directs and sustains a person’s efforts; hence its complexity. The elements that motivate differ from person to person, from situation to situation and from time to time.
Using a simple illustration, a bottle of water will have more value to a person lost in a desert as compared to a person who is not.
Rescue the person and put him or her in a hospital and the motivational value of the bottle of water will depreciate. Health then becomes relatively more important.
Another example is in relation to overtime. When doing overtime, employees have a choice between doing extra work and getting extra money, or less work and less money.
Some individuals may find that the idea of earning more money outweighs the drawback of having to do extra work.
On the other hand, there will be those who place more importance on spending time with their families and are thus, not amicable to spending more time at work. The same item may therefore, motivate according to the person’s circumstances at the time. In both these instances, it is clearly demonstrated that motivation is relative and has different values to different people, dependant on circumstances.
*The teachers use both the carrot and the stick to make sure that the students do their work.
*The Government says that it favours a carrot and stick approach to get unemployed people back to work.
ound: ound: ound:The relativity of motivation
Motivation is that which energises, directs and sustains a person’s efforts; hence its complexity. The elements that motivate differ from person to person, from situation to situation and from time to time.
Using a simple illustration, a bottle of water will have more value to a person lost in a desert as compared to a person who is not.
Rescue the person and put him or her in a hospital and the motivational value of the bottle of water will depreciate. Health then becomes relatively more important.
Another example is in relation to overtime. When doing overtime, employees have a choice between doing extra work and getting extra money, or less work and less money.
Some individuals may find that the idea of earning more money outweighs the drawback of having to do extra work.
On the other hand, there will be those who place more importance on spending time with their families and are thus, not amicable to spending more time at work. The same item may therefore, motivate according to the person’s circumstances at the time. In both these instances, it is clearly demonstrated that motivation is relative and has different values to different people, dependant on circumstances.
