POSITIVE REWARD AROUSES INTEREST AND HOLDS ATTENTION.—­The benefit of the positive reward is that it arouses and holds attention.  A fine example of a reward that is not positive is that type of “welfare work” which consists of simply providing the worker with such surroundings as will enable him to work decently and without actual discomfort.  The worker, naturally, feels that such surroundings are his right, and in no sense a reward and incentive to added activity.  The reward must actually offer to the worker something which he has a right to expect only if he earns it; something which will be a positive addition to his life.

PREDETERMINED REWARD CONCENTRATES ATTENTION.—­The predetermined reward allows both manager and man to concentrate their minds upon the work.  There is no shifting of the attention, while the worker wonders what the reward that he is to receive will be.  It is also a strong factor for industrial peace, and for all the extra activities which will come when industrial conditions are peaceful.

PERSONAL REWARD CONSERVES INDIVIDUALITY.—­The personal reward is a strong incentive toward initiative, towards the desire to make the most of one’s individuality.  It is an aid toward the feeling of personal recognition.  From this personal reward come all the benefits which have been considered under individuality.[1]

FIXED REWARD ELIMINATES WASTE TIME.—­The fact that the reward is fixed is a great eliminator of waste to the man and to the manager both.  Not only does the man concentrate better under the fixed reward, but the reward, being fixed, need not be determined anew, over and over again; that is to say, every time that that kind of work is done, simultaneous with the arising of the work comes the reward that is to be paid for it.  All the time that would be given to determining the reward, satisfying the men and arguing the case, is saved and utilized.

ASSURED REWARD AIDS CONCENTRATION.—­The assured reward leads to concentration,—­even perhaps more so than the fact that the reward is determined.  In case the man was not sure that he would get the reward in the end, he would naturally spend a great deal of time wondering whether he would or not.  Moreover, no immediate good fortune counts for much as an incentive if there is a prospect of bad luck following in the immediate future.

NEED FOR PROMPTNESS VARIES.—­The need for promptness of the reward varies.  If the reward is to be given to a man of an elementary type of mind, the reward must be immediately announced and must be actually given very promptly, as it is impossible for anyone of such a type of intellect to look forward very far.[2] A man of a high type of intellectual development is able to wait a longer time for his reward, and the element of promptness, while acting somewhat as an incentive, is not so necessary.