Another Look at Workplace Incentives: They Don't Work

Alfie Kohn.org

"What I observed almost a decade ago, in Punished by Rewards, is still true as far as I can tell: not a single controlled study has shown a long-term improvement in the quality of work as a result of any reward system. That would be an astonishing fact were it not for the existence of scores of studies – conducted with adults as well as children, in real workplaces among other venues – that have demonstrated how rewards tend to be not merely ineffective but powerfully counterproductive. 

What is astonishing is how many people continue to buy the party line – that the concept of using extrinsic inducements is sound – indeed, not even open to question -- and the failure to show meaningful results (yet again) is due only to getting the details of implementation wrong. In place of solid arguments and evidence, we find a continued reliance on that outdated ideology known as behaviorism, a version of which turns on the adage that “all behavior is controlled by its consequences.” Depending on how the key words here are defined, this is either tautological (that is, true by definition and therefore not especially useful) or simply false. Even if you accepted it at face value, this declaration begs the question of what kind of consequences we’re talking about. I might work harder at a job that gives me personal satisfaction, for example, but that isn’t even the beginning of a justification for setting up artificial consequences like bonuses or sales commissions.

A few years ago, Training magazine – hardly a bastion of anti-Skinnerian sentiment -- ran a cover article called “Why No One Likes Your Incentive Program.” They were acknowledging what every honest person who has spent time in the business world must concede: reward systems are highly unpopular and (partly as a result) ineffective. I wish I could tell you that tweaking an existing program, finding a new way to reward people, would make those problems vanish. The reality is that rewards cannot work, at least in any significant way, because of the problems that are inherent to the whole idea of extrinsic motivation. Merely eliminating those rewards will not transform a workplace. That step is not sufficient, but it sure is necessary." (Emphasis Mine.)

So what about "executive compensation" for CEOs who strangle their companies into receivorship? Rewarding the wrong behavior is stupid, right? Right?