Dear All,
In message LO12610 mentions the dilemma facing many organisations, of how
to compensate team members whilst recognising individual efforts and
merit. This is a question which I have been researching for some time now,
in the broader context of employee motivation in learning organisations.
I find it quite surprising that the emphasis of this debate is on reward
systems, since many writers on the topic of motivation suggest that
financial incentives are NOT a valid method of employee motivation. True
enough an employee would NOT be motivated at all if these systems were
absent (as Herzberg's Two-Factor Model of Motivation suggests), but
over-emphasising the use of reward systems will not produce extra
motivation, effort or performance from employees in the long term. Some
would argue that reward systems represent a 'Shifting the Burden' dynamic,
since the real long term solution would be to develop personal vision - a
true, intrinsic motivator - yet organisations persist with the short term
reinforcement of a reward system.
Despite this, few learning organisations are taking this message on board
(this is certainly the indication from the initial results of my survey).
I hope this is of some help! I would greatly welcome any responses on this
subject.
Andy Cripps
Department of Computer Science
University of York
UK
--Andy Cripps <ajc101@york.ac.uk>
Learning-org -- An Internet Dialog on Learning Organizations For info: <rkarash@karash.com> -or- <http://world.std.com/~lo/>