Paying someone a compliment produces a similar effect in the brain to giving the person cash. This was the finding of a Japanese study published in the science journal, Neuron, last year. A team at the National Institute for Physiological Sciences found the area of the brain that responds to compliments overlaps the area that responds to monetary rewards.
Given the perspective of today’s lean times, revisiting this study is a great reminder for managers and supervisors that non-monetary rewards pay off.
Studying Social and Monetary Rewards
The study looked at the participants’ brain activities as they played a gambling card game that paid out varying monetary rewards. The Japanese scientists compared the results to how social rewards, such as compliments, on a video presentation and personality questionnaire triggered brain activity. When the study-participants received praise, it sparked similar parts of the brain as would the money.
“Our results clearly show that social approval shares the same neural basis as monetary rewards,” wrote the study’s authors Keise Izuma, Daisuke Saito, and Norihiro Sadato, in the April 24, 2008 edition of Neuron.
“A good reputation is of special importance because it is highly relevant to everyday social decision making. … The social reward of a good reputation should be incorporated into the neural model of human decision making in a similar manner to monetary rewards.”
This is to say that while financial and social rewards are not perfectly interchangeable, they trigger similar benefits in terms of brain stimulation.
Applying this idea to the workplace, managers who have fewer opportunities to offer lucrative bonuses and pay raises can tap into a similar motivation through recognition. It’s about re-enforcing the ‘good reputation’ of valuable employees.
Compliments as Non-Financial Motivation for Employees
We’ve long heard that praise is an invaluable management tool in keeping staff members engaged. In fact the idea that money is rarely the top-motivator for employees has been around for more than 50 years.
With budgets tightened, there’s no better time to review the role of non-financial rewards as employee incentives. By providing sincere compliments, managers can tap into the reward center of the brain, known as the striatum. The results of the Japanese study lend weight to the power of rewarding employees in non-financial ways and confirm the value of a simple gesture of appreciation.
Ways to Implement Non-Financial Incentives
“Perhaps the most obvious benefit of [praise] is that a simple, informal ‘thank you’ doesn’t cost anything,” says Michael Silverman in his 2004 paper “Non-Financial Recognition”, available from the Institute for Employment Studies. He goes on to say: “For the majority of employees, it is how they are dealt with by their managers on a daily basis that is the most important factor.”
Consistent and appreciative words can—in terms of how the brain sees the reward—help counter the current climate of pay freezes.
Dr. Bob Nelson, a motivational speaker and author of “1001 Ways to Reward Employees”, has long-touted the value of reward-based recognition and the idea that money is not the ultimate motivator.
“The highest-recognition managers all look for opportunities to recognize employees when they do good work, and they do so on a daily basis,” says Dr. Nelson in a video clip available on his web site (nelson-motivation.com). He says money is certainly not the only, and not even the top motivator. Instead, Nelson advocates regular, sincere recognition as a great way to spur employees to action.
Drawing on the findings of Dr. Sadato and his team at the National Institute for Physiological Sciences in Japan in conjunction with advice from reward experts, managers can act confidently when it comes to boosting morale and motivation through praise. Offering sincere appreciation on a daily basis is an important tool in rewarding staff members during leaner times.