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I agree more with you (and your wife) more than you do with yourself.

What we recognize and reward, we get more of.

I would caution consistency and fairness so that no employee finds the boss playing favorites. This is an important consideration and with a bit of humor can pay a big dividend.

I used to like giving an employee I had caught doing something good a cash reward — usually $500 — in person at a company meeting. I used to have HQ company meetings monthly around a holiday or birthday celebration.

[Pro tip: I used to track employment anniversaries religiously and always made it a point to celebrate 5+ year anniversaries without fail.]

People would ask me what had the person done to earn the reward and I would say: “Ask her.”

This simple act would ensure gobs of communication and a bit of envy but it always reinforced the behaviors I wanted. It worked like a charm because the employee provided the testimonial rather than my pontificating.

People are much grander than anyone wants to believe when well motivated, recognized, appreciated and rewarded. On a $500K payroll, the well spent $500 may be a game changer.

I wouldn’t say it if I hadn’t done it and reaped the benefits.

BRC
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Of course, this works in the business world as well.

The flip side is that all repeated behavior has a reward aspect – even self destructive ones. Have an employee who skips out early, takes long lunches and shirks responsibility? Ask yourself – what is his reward for doing this? (My wife would say “the function of their behavior.) Figure it out, and work to break the cycle by rewarding the behavior you want to see, and minimize their rewards for doing the behavior you don’t want to see.

Chaining them to the desk, docking their pay, humiliation and a host of other rookie management mistakes never work.