Let Employees Know the Consequences for Their Actions

While there are times in life when the element of surprise is a good thing, when it comes to motivating employees and trying to shape and reward specific behaviors on the job, surprise consequences are not a good thing. In fact, when employees do not know what the consequences of their behavioral choices will be, they may be less productive and more prone to make decisions that are not in the best interest of the company. If you want to guide employees toward specific behaviors, make sure they know what the consequences will be regardless.

No matter how small a business, having set policies and expectations is important-but it is equally important that employees know from the very beginning what the consequences will be. This not only builds a structure for behavior in the workplace, but it also takes away the "personality" element in terms of delivering those consequences. Employees are much less likely to personalize or take the distribution of consequences to be a personal attack when they know what they will be in advance and know that the same consequences apply to everyone equally.

For example, if the consequences for being late to work are as follows: first infraction will bring about a verbal warning and the second infraction will mean a loss of an hour's pay-then there can be no shocked complaints from an employee who has committed her second tardiness infraction. If the consequences for coming in late to work are clear, posted and distributed to all employees then supervisors also do not have to sweat and worry over what to do to address problem behavior.

Making consequences public and known does not just apply to those for negative behavior. By letting employees know what the consequences of positive, inspirational, helpful or productive behavior will be, it can serve as a strong motivator. If employees know, for example, that they will receive a bonus when they reach a certain level of productivity, there will be those who will strive to be productive in order to receive the reward.

Don't keep consequences a secret-by making them known and establishing solid policy, it will make it easier for supervisors to lead and workers to be productive.