Reward Power

This type of influence is created when the leader is able to offer a reward to his followers for completing tasks behaving in a certain manner. Rewards in the workplace can take a variety of forms from chocolates, gift vouchers and holidays to promotions, commission and pay rises. This reward will only be effective if:

Firstly - the reward appeals to the followers. As you are aware there is no point offering chocolate as a reward to somebody who likes crisps. This is because they will not view chocolate as a reward, so there is no incentive to complete the task.

Secondly – the followers have to believe that the leader will give them (or arrange for them to receive) the reward promised once the task is completed by them.

Thirdly – the reward should be proportionate to the task the follower has to complete. For example it would be disproportionate to reward an employee with a promotion for making a cup of tea. Similarly a follower would feel undervalued, if rewarded with a $5 gift voucher after they spent six months doing their managers job without a pay rise.

This type of power needs to be used carefully to prevent followers becoming accustomed to rewards and refusing to complete routine tasks without a reward. Generally rewards should not be offered, to follower employees to complete duties which are a normal part of their role. This is because as an employee they are under a contractual obligation to complete these tasks and they are already rewarded for this through their salary.

The other reason why rewards should be offered carefully is that frequent use can reduce the impact or influence that offering a reward initially had on the follower. Followers will soon tire of the reward especially if the reward is small for example chocolates or flowers.