Reinforcement, Recognition, and Celebrations in the Workplace
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St. John Fisher College Fisher Digital Publications Education Masters Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. School of Education 2010 Reinforcement, Recognition, and Celebrations in the Workplace. Niki Scarpetta St. John Fisher College Follow this and additional works at: https://fisherpub.sjfc.edu/education_ETD_masters Part of the Education Commons How has open access to Fisher Digital Publications benefited ou?y Recommended Citation Scarpetta, Niki, "Reinforcement, Recognition, and Celebrations in the Workplace." (2010). Education Masters. Paper 189. Please note that the Recommended Citation provides general citation information and may not be appropriate for your discipline. To receive help in creating a citation based on your discipline, please visit http://libguides.sjfc.edu/citations. This document is posted at https://fisherpub.sjfc.edu/education_ETD_masters/189 and is brought to you for free and open access by Fisher Digital Publications at St. John Fisher College. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Reinforcement, Recognition, and Celebrations in the Workplace. Abstract Celebration events commonly happen in the workplace as means to reinforce and recognize excellent work performance. Although this seems to boost employee morale, ultimately workers desire ongoing reinforcement and recognition. One may question the effectiveness of celebrations in the workplace. This research examines the effectiveness and quality of reinforcement, recognition, and celebrations in the Educational Technology Services Department at Monroe Community College. A focus group was conducted to gain insight, and provide foundation for a quantitative survey that was later administered to the ETS Department. A literature review supports the results of the qualitative and quantitative data, recommendations are made and supported through the literature review. Document Type Thesis Degree Name MS in Human Resource Development Department Education Subject Categories Education This thesis is available at Fisher Digital Publications: https://fisherpub.sjfc.edu/education_ETD_masters/189 Reinforcement, Recognition, and Celebrations 1 RUNNING HEAD: REINFORCEMENT, RECOGNITION AND CELEBRATIONS Reinforcement, Recognition, and Celebrations in the Workplace Organizational Learning and Human Resource Development GHRD 590 - Masters Thesis Niki Scarpetta St. John Fisher College 2010 Reinforcement, Recognition, and Celebrations 2 Candidate Name: Niki Scarpetta Paper Title: Reinforcement, Recognition and Celebrations in the Workplace Paper Type: Original Research The signatures on this page signify successful completion of the GHRD 590 capstone project requirement. ________________________________________________ Robert T. Whipple, Advisor ________________________________________________ Ed Ciaschi, Reader #1 ________________________________________________ Reverend Dr. Arnold Deknatel, Reader #2 ________________________________________________ Niki Scarpetta Reinforcement, Recognition, and Celebrations 3 Acknowledgements Thank you to all who have helped me through my journey in this Masters Program. Much love and gratitude to my fiance, Matt. Thank you for making me laugh when I was stressed out and dealing with my intense schoolwork schedule. To my family, for all the times I have missed Sunday dinner--thank you for your patience, encouragement, and love. I appreciate all the times you have listened to my stories and helped me memorize and rehearse my presentations. Many thanks to my parents. Your never ending love and support has encouraged me to stay focused and accomplish my goals. Thank you to my advisor, Bob Whipple. You have relentlessly given me sound advice and unyielding support and trust throughout this whole Capstone experience. Special thanks to Bill Wagoner. Your extraordinary assistance provided me with the tools to make my 590 project successful. Thank you to Cohort 12, I have grown so much because of you. I am blessed to have been apart of such an awe inspiring group. You have given me the courage to take hold of the handlebars and ride into the unknown. Reinforcement, Recognition, and Celebrations 4 Dedication This is dedicated to Nicholas, Andrew, Ella, and Emily; thank you for always making me smile and giving me hope. Reinforcement, Recognition, and Celebrations 5 Table of Contents Acknowledgements..............................................................................................................3 Dedication............................................................................................................................4 Abstract................................................................................................................................6 Reinforcement, Recognition, and Celebrations in the Workplace.......................................7 Qualitative Questions for Focus Group.............................................................................11 Quantitative Survey Results..............................................................................................15 Cross Tabulation of Quantitative Data.............................................................................21 Discussion of Hypotheses.................................................................................................33 Literature Review..............................................................................................................35 Recommendations.............................................................................................................44 References.........................................................................................................................48 Appendix A.......................................................................................................................52 Appendix B.......................................................................................................................56 Reinforcement, Recognition, and Celebrations 6 Abstract Celebration events commonly happen in the workplace as means to reinforce and recognize excellent work performance. Although this seems to boost employee morale, ultimately workers desire ongoing reinforcement and recognition. One may question the effectiveness of celebrations in the workplace. This research examines the effectiveness and quality of reinforcement, recognition, and celebrations in the Educational Technology Services Department at Monroe Community College. A focus group was conducted to gain insight, and provide foundation for a quantitative survey that was later administered to the ETS Department. A literature review supports the results of the qualitative and quantitative data, recommendations are made and supported through the literature review. Reinforcement, Recognition, and Celebrations 7 Reinforcement, Recognition, and Celebrations in the Workplace The purpose of the study is to examine how celebrations in the workplace, reinforcement, and recognition affect motivation and personal relationships that may or may not take place in an organization. Celebrations range in a variety of social gatherings such as; birthdays, anniversaries, holidays, picnics, and company outings. Workplace gatherings that celebrate company milestones and goal oriented accomplishments will also be included in this study. Generally, there is a preconceived notion that celebrations in the workplace create a positive atmosphere for employees. However, celebrations may have a negative impact on employee morale, and ultimately damage group cohesion. This study defined options for HRD practitioners that can allow for improvement of positive personal relationships in the workplace. I administered a focus group and a quantitative survey at Monroe Community College to gain insight on this subject. The focus group consisted of eight employees from upper management. I then used the responses from the focus group to form a quantitative survey. Using St. John Fisher’s Qualtrics web-based survey system, I sent a link of the quantitative survey to one hundred employees in the Educational Technology Services (ETS) department of Monroe Community College. Employee motivation and personal reactions to social events are fundamental topics that were included in the survey. Reinforcement, Recognition, and Celebrations 8 Hypotheses One hypothesis is that employees are less motivated to complete their work just before attending celebrations at work. A second hypothesis is that celebrations in the workplace decrease productivity by distracting employees and interrupting their workflow. Lastly, a third hypothesis is that when employees cannot reach an agreement on the type of activities that take place during celebrations at work, management should be concerned and become involved. I had anticipated that the conclusions from this study would provide a strong correlation between the impact of celebrations in the workplace and employee motivation. To my surprise, the survey results went against the logic in the research. I found that the celebrations had very little impact (positive or negative ) on productivity both before and after the event. A covariant analysis was used as a means to support or refute the hypotheses. First, I will review the measures that were taken in order to build the foundation of the study. Methods On January 28, 2010, a focus group was conducted at Monroe Community College. The focus group consisted of eight members from upper management of Educational Technology Services (ETS) including the Associate