BUS576 - 2 How Incentives Drive Us

It isn't a secret that we all work for our money, and the more, the better. If we are getting paid less, our motivation or incentive to do more decreases. This is especially true if someone at the same level as us gets paid more. Money drives performance unless you are rich and are working for fun (too bad many of us don't have this luxury). Through this, there are three different ways that incentives can drive performance and after reading through these, I thought about the informational effect and my friend's past job. My friend fixed cars and could work between six and twelve hours a day. At the end of the week, all the mechanics have their hours thrown into a pot and it is divided evenly. There are two ways this can go, you could have worked x amount of hours and got paid for more hours than you worked, or your worked y amount of hours and got paid for less hours than you worked. Most of the time, if you worked long days and many hours, the pay you were getting wasn't fair at the end of the week. This really showed the workers that they wanted to cut costs and didn't believe in fairness in wages. My friend eventually quit, but I think it's insane to have even stayed a week. If people are so driven by money and incentives, why did the hard working employees keep their jobs there? What incentive would you have to work there? After what point does money stop driving your performance?

I also thought it was interesting that money doesn't always drive performance. While reading on, incentives can attract the wrong kind of talent. I thought it was different that the CEO of Tandem Computers never told new hires their pay until they accepted. Many people do come for the money and leave for the money. When companies are trying to reduce turnover rates, they want employees who are interested in the company and the beliefs. There aren't just financial incentives, but telling people the company's strategy and expectations. People can gain benefits if they enjoy the work they do. Working at UPMC, I am helping patients to see a doctor without having to travel a whole day for a 20 minute appointment. Making sure the equipment works and supporting the applications indirectly helps patients to have a better experience, not have to miss work, or spend more time with their families (which is very important to me). I also am learning about computers everyday and this can help me in my everyday life. I have the benefit of being a part of a technological innovation that is taking off everywhere. I feel that my values are aligning with UPMC's providing exceptional patient care. I enjoy my work and enjoy telling people about what I do. I'm in an IT position and it's actually interesting. Do you feel that you gain more than financial incentives through your job? Why or why not? Does a higher paying job with less beneficial incentives or a lower paying job with higher beneficial incentives drive you?

In How to Motivate Your Problem People, they talk about 'real' peoples' problems and how they motivated their employees. They use cases and how the specific managers are handling the situations. They label the heading, 'A Familiar Problem,' but just because the problem may be familiar, doesn't mean the situation or solution is going to be the same. They say there is no way to motivate employees, only they can motivate themselves, but the author only says this because they did 'years of studying and advising.' Just because one person studies certain people for years, doesn't make this statement true. These people are also using past examples of what they did as ideas of what to do for your employee. Every circumstance is different and providing examples is as good as reading a fictional book. Using research about incentives can help to motivate employees and increase their productivity.

It's already week two and I really am enjoying the class. I never really thought about non financial incentives. If you really enjoy your job, you are reaping benefits that aren't necessarily financial, even though that does help. I also like the videos on decision making. Having evidence and data instead of past experiences helps the decision we are making to be more successful. I thought it was really interesting that sometimes we don't even make the decision. We are always susceptible to external forces that can actually make the decision for us without us even knowing. I am going to pay more attention to the way I make decisions and how things are framed they may lead me to choose what they want me to choose. 

Resources:

Nicholson, N. (2003, Jan). How to Motivate Your Problem People. Retrieved Jul 7, 2014, from Harvard Business Review: http://hbr.org/2003/01/how-to-motivate-your-problem-people/ar/1

Pfeffer, J., & Sutton, R. (2006). Hard Facts, Dangerous Half-Truths, & Total Nonsense. Boston: Harvard Business School Publishing.