It’s old school thinking – if you want your employees to be more motivated, put a carrot out in front of them. The logic goes like this:

I have a gift (reward) for you. But you can’t have this great gift until you do X, Y and Z. Only once you achieve the results I expect, may you have the gift. Which, by its nature, isn’t really a gift since you need to earn it. In fact, it’s just another piece of your compensation that’s yours to lose.

Let me throw some new school thinking at you. Putting a carrot out in front of your people, sets them up for failure. Think about it. The best they can do is achieve the objectives you have set, and get what you promised them. In other words, the best they can get is what they expect. But that’s not a sure thing.

There is a chance they won’t get the reward. And, considering how high most entrepreneurs set the bar for achievement, the odds are often greater for failure than success.

That nice, pretty carrot you’re waving around? You might as well be shouting out… “Look at the cool thing you won’t be getting! Now work harder.”

Don’t believe me? Try it with your kids. Tell them that if they clean their rooms, take out the garbage and clean the dishes, every day for the next ninety days (which is very similar to the quarterly goals we set for employees) you will take them to Disneyland. I suspect, just like employees, they will work feverishly for the first few days, struggle to keep the pace for a week and return to their normal patterns before the first month is up. And for the rest of your life they’ll complain how you decided not to take them to Disneyland.

It gets worse. Promised rewards sets the precedent for rewards being necessary prior to every instance you want your employees to be motivated. For example, if your kids do pull off the cleaning for a full ninety days and you go to Disneyland, you’ll need to do it each time. If you want the kids to clean for the next ninety, you’ll need to deliver Disneyland or more likely, better.

Trying to motivate employees with rewards as carrots is working against you, and even undermining the likelihood of success. Instead, give rewards unexpectedly and after the fact.

Still set expectations for performance, but never again promise a reward. Then occasionally, once your employees achieve the goals, give them an unexpected reward. This will reinforce the behaviors, while avoiding the danger of carrots.

If I’m wrong (which I’m not), at least you’ll have a spotless home to return to from your vacation in Disneyland.