It really depends on the needs of each staff member and the attitude of the organization (will they provide resources to support a reward system?). Be careful with rewards to providers as the organization can get into trouble, but your marketing and/or legal department can offer you solutions. I've used a 'thank you for your hard work today' with my staff and it is really priceless. Of course, it needs to be sincere and appropriate to the situations that you're thanking your staff for (going the extra mile to help an upset patient or dealing with a difficult physicians).

Balancing intrinsic versus extrinsic motivation should be the ideal goal in the reward and compensation system of a health care organization. Used correctly, this balance can help the organzation in creating a high performing workforce. However, I have found that achieving this balance is more chanllenging in the government setting where I work. This complexity appears to be due to the fact that all our professional staff including physicians and nurses are members of the Bargaining Unit.

In this unionized environment, the financial reward in the form of annual increament is equal regardless of satisfactory performance and excellent performance. In other words, the staff who achieves the minimum level of performance gets the same percentage increase as the staff who is highly motivated and delivers superior level of performance consistently. Seniority also features in the promotion system. This leaves the health care executive with creative ways of rewarding excellence. Such creative strategies may include approving outside conferences, private and public acknowledment of achievement, to name a few.