Okay, I admit it, I’m being a bit cheeky here (it might be the chocolates I got this morning!) – but really what’s not to love about reward?

• Reward: a thing given in recognition of service, effort, or achievement

Some organisations call it compensation, but I have an issue with that:

If I’m being picky-  and let’s be honest here I am - I somehow think they may have hit the nail right on the head.  I wonder at which point does our employment mindset go from wanting to be rewarded for providing our services to wanting to be compensated for the fact we have to turn up every day.   More worryingly, how did work get so bad that we have to be compensated for doing it?

If your staff don’t love their work, if  they don’t love getting up in the morning to do it, if they don’t love it when they are there – then the engagement has gone.  This is where you need to start talking to your staff and finding out what's gone wrong.  Engage with your staff and reward them for the efforts they put in on your behalf.  There’s plenty of evidence out there to suggest it works.    I guess the problem is knowing how to do that.