Author of ‘1001 Ways to Reward Employees’ Says It’s the Thanks – Not the Bucks – That Count

Employee communications/morale programs continue to nudge their way up the corporate priority "to do" list.

Corporate communicators are being tapped as both liaisons for relaying how companies value their employees as well as guides to spearhead new initiatives.

Last week, PR NEWS caught up with Bob Nelson, author of "1001 Ways to Reward Employees" to chat about innovative - and inexpensive - programs companies are employing to reward their staffs. Nelson has also written "1001 Ways to Energize Employees." He is the founder of Nelson Motivation, Inc., a diversified employee training and development firm in San Diego, and is also VP of Blanchard Training and Development.

PRN: What inspired you to write "1001 Ways to Reward Employees?"

Nelson: I'd say that more than anything it was my involvement in my PhD. [at The Claremont Graduate School] program and realizing that the principle of positive reinforcement - the idea that "you get what you reward" is common sense, yet not common practice. In my travels and research, I've interviewed managers and asked them: "What do you do to reward performance?" The typical manager would always have something that popped into his or her head. But when I would ask them, "Well, when was the last time you did that?" - they hemmed and hawed. I discovered that employers weren't using this principle consistently to reward the behavior they most wanted.