As I approach the end of my first set of university courses, I’ve learned that number of hours spent working doesn’t always correlate with the amount of work completed. With this in mind, Vivian Ho’s blog post entitled “Work Hours Versus Work Efficiency” especially caught my eye. The blog explored the dilemma outlined in a New York Times article that many law firms are facing. Due to the fact that employees are paid per hour as opposed to per case, the employees’ productivity is lower.

The Academy of Management Executive article, ‘On the folly of rewarding A, while hoping for B‘, explains the problem. While law firm management hopes to have as many cases solved as possible, they are ultimately rewarding their employees for the number of hours spent on a case. There is a lack of incentive for employees to work harder on each case and be more efficient.
As Vivian correctly suggested in her blog, it would be a good idea to pay employees per case. It’s important to make sure that employees are rewarded for activities that bring the company closer to reaching its goals. Hoping for one outcome but rewarding another leads to inefficient workers.