Intrinsic vs. Extrinsic Motivators – What Really Works in Business

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Naperville, Illinois, United States of America (Free-Press-Release.com) January 23, 2012 -- January 23, 2012 - Naperville, IL – With the intriguing title: You Say Intrinsic, We Say Extrinsic…Should We Just Call the Whole Thing Off?, the Incentive Marketing Association’s Performance Improvement Council demonstrates in its newest white paper how noted author Daniel Pink’s often quoted conclusions about the insufficiency of extrinsic rewards for motivation have been mischaracterized and over generalized.

The paper’s author, Excellence in Motivation Vice President Kevin Stephens, examines Pink’s 2010 book (Drive) assertion: “Extrinsic rewards alone are insufficient for lasting behavior change, and can have negative effects on performance,” and points out that even Pink and his predecessors don’t buy the argument when it comes to motivating the majority of employees in the workplace. Specifically, Stephens concludes:
“In work situations where people by definition are already exchanging effort for external reward, the entire intrinsic-vs.-extrinsic debate is a little silly. The discussion of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation is neither an either/or proposition, nor a black-and-white argument. A careful, thorough reading of his book reveals that Pink himself is not even primarily responsible for the ‘Daniel Pink says incentive programs don’t work’ argument.”

After a review of the literature, Stephens asserts that serious research has confirmed what common sense tells us: “when people work at a job to make money, they will perform better if rewarded for extra efforts.”
To read the paper, go to the Performance Improvement Council’s site: http://www.thepicnow.org.


The Performance Improvement Council (PIC), a professional organization of performance marketing executives, is a strategic industry group of the Incentive Marketing Association. It is collectively focused on helping companies optimize their investment in human capital through proven and innovative reward and recognition solutions.

Business improves when employees and customers are recognized, rewarded, and engaged through effectively structured programs with defined goals and proven returns. The Incentive Marketing Association (IMA) is comprised of the companies who are leaders in the incentive industry. IMA provides education, resources and research to promote the use of incentive programs to the business community and is the umbrella organization for the Global Incentive Council (GIC), the Incentive Gift Card Council (IGCC), the Incentive Manufacturers & Representatives Alliance (IMRA), the Incentive Travel Council, the Performance Improvement Council, the Promotional Products Provider Council, the Recognition Council, IMA-Australia Council, IMA-Canada Council and IMA-Europe Council. More information about IMA and the incentive marketplace is available at http://www.incentivemarketing.org/.