Praise for Profit: How Rewards and Incentives are Demotivating America's Workforce

Somehow the idea that hard work should pay off has been distorted; we now think that rewards need to be seeded throughout the tasks and the sub-goals that lead to the final result. It has only been in the last few decades that America's Reward Culture has materialized in its present form. The belief that hard work should eventually lead to a reward has been reframed to the conclusion that mere effort needs to be rewarded and rewarded constantly. This simple twist on venerated cultural axioms has led to some pretty extreme cultural rewards strategies and a change in the American employee's work ethic that may be irreversible.