Pay for Performance (P4P) is currently the biggest trend in compensation. I am a huge proponent of this effort, but I also fear its failure. Too often I see companies believe that just the existence of such a program will improve performance. Let me dispel this myth.
We have all read the studies (or seen the cartoons) about a rat making its way through a maze because there is cheese at the other end. While these results are compelling, we must remember that our employees are not rats. We must also remember that compensation is not cheese. Simply putting some money at the end of a year, or multi-year project is not enough to ensure that employees will find their way to success.
Secondarily, rats do not understand us when we speak to them (or email, tweet or talk to them.) Therefore our only method of dealing with rats is to let them figure things out on their own. It is important to remember that we can communicate with our staff members. We can provide direction along the way. We can help, cajole, motivate and drive people. We can even teach them how to do these things for themselves.
So let’s talk about incentives and people.
In academic experiments, it has been proven that incentives and rewards are effective in getting people to perform tasks or accomplish goals. The sums provided are usually quite small (usually less than a few dollars) and the timeframes are generally in minutes, hour or days. While these studies give us insight into the workings between behavior and economics, they are often poor analogs for the long-term, high value incentives that are currently all the rage in the world of compensation.
We must understand that most people like strong leaders. They like to be given a destination and want to be told they are doing a great job at getting there. Most people are not strongly self-driven and most will not find, without ongoing interaction, that your corporate goals inspire or drive them in any passionate long-term manner.
We must stop treating our employee like rats, our goals like mazes and our pay programs like cheese. We need to understand that incentives work, but communication and leadership are requirements for long-term efficacy. If we move beyond the idea of “pay manages peoples actions” we will find a more holistic solution that is truly effective.