Most people would agree that, with a higher incentive to work, they will become more motivated and therefore, be more productive with their tasks. Recently, I came across a TED talk that made me think back to the motivation unit of the class. In this talk, Dan Pink claims monetary rewards are an ineffective way of motivating employees. He argues that the higher the reward, the more inefficient the individuals perform on the task.

His speech made me think about the fundamentals of motivation. If I am asked what would increase my motivation to work, I, like many others, would have said a higher salary. I would have never thought that a higher compensation may hinder my productivity. Dan Pink’s argument is that the extrinsic motivators distract us from the actual task itself. He claims that bonuses set a clear objective and makes one “focus” on only that one goal, but it does not promote more diverse thinking or problem solving.

In our class, we have explored the idea that incentive pay may not be the best method as well. In fact, the text suggests to “Abolish Incentive Pay” and instead, focus on improving “Conditions for Authentic Motivation”.

While I understand the reasoning behind removing financial bonuses, I think that it is still important to be able to be receive a fair amount of monetary rewards to encourage an employee. I believe money itself is a strong initial motivator. In more traditional jobs, as long as the job is fairly likable, I believe that a higher pay can indeed motivate employees. After all, when choosing careers and jobs, usually the initial influential factor is indeed a higher salary. However, in more creative fields, I understand that higher pay may not motivate, but rather give pressure to complete the task at hand. Thus, I believe that incentivised pay should not be a topic of black and white. Rather, companies need to look at the specific job duties and how thier employees operate, in order to decide whether a money- based rewards are suitable.

Langton, N. | Robbins, S. P. | Judge, T. A. (n.d.). Organizational Behaviour (7th Canadian Edition) [Texidium version]. Retrieved from http://texidium.com