Appeal to Values



Justification of desired behavior as consistent with worker's own welfare or beliefs. Offering of a reward--material, social, or spiritual--contingent on future performance constitutes the "quid pro quo" form.
 
Ex.: “Everybody here has had such high respect for you.  It will become a distant memory if you come back from lunch in this condition again.”

“The better quality job we do, the more demand there will be for our birds and the more hours of work you will have in the long run.”

“By taking on this extra work, you can show that you have unusual ability and commitment.  You know, the company is going to need a couple of new supervisors in the spring.”

Pros & Cons
Appeal to values speaks to an employee’s interests and is usually experienced as helpful and supportive.  It can clarify for workers how to achieve rewards that are important to them.  Supervisors who do not understand well what employees really value, however, are less apt to strike the right nerve with their appeals.  Workers with different values or cultural frames of reference may see an appeal to values as so much management hokum.

Work situations where this 
response is demonstrated:

Inebriation


Theft

 


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