Recent discussions of incentive compensation in relation to human resources have sparked an interest in me as to why people would pursue careers in less than desirable industries. Prostitution for example, is far from the path that many young women envision themselves on. However, in Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner’s book Superfreakonomics, one can notice that if the incentive is large enough, any activity can be prompted. Specifically on the fourth of July in Chicago, certain prostitutes would enter the market only for that weekend due to higher wages. Allie, a happy prostitute, is also studied in this book. Allie entered the market from a middle class demographic seeing the potential profitability from providing a high class version of the service. She is extremely selective with her clientele and retrospectively offers a full package including dinner, stimulating conversation, and lastly all overnight activities. Fellow Comm 101 peer Alex Dye mentions in her blog how prostitutes have
Training and Special Skills
begun to develop niche skills (i.e dominatrix, phone sex) in order to gather even higher compensation through a competitive advantage. It is evident that with the correct compensation, employees are willing to handle any task. Relating this situation back to human resources, managers must identify the correct incentives in order to motivate employees.
Sources:
Book: Superfreakonomics