preview

Why Incentive Plans Cannot Work Paper

Decent Essays

Lauren Hartigan
Human Resource Management
Professor Ferrari
M/W 3:50
Why Incentive Plans Cannot Work

The article titled Why Incentive Plans Cannot Work by Alfie Kohn was very interesting. Rewards offer temporary compliance that can ultimately destroy relationships among employees. It hinders the ability to manage a company. It creates short-term success and does not mean long-term commitment. In this, I find that incentives do not alter the attitudes that underlie behaviors. Incentives hinder creativity and create competition. I concur that incentives also undermine interest.
We see in this article that incentives don’t alter the attitudes that underlie behaviors. We think the behaviorist …show more content…

(Kohn) When it comes to incentives we find to learn to rewards rupture relationships. We read that managers understand that coercion and fear destroy motivation and create defiance, defensiveness, and rage. The KITA or “Kick in the pants” coined by Herzberg may produce movement but never motivation. Yes when someone lights a fire under our butt it may help us move towards production for a little but it won’t ultimately motivate us for long term success. (Kohn)
Relationships among employees are often casualties of the scramble for rewards. Leaders of the Total Quality Management movement have emphasized that incentive programs and performance appraisal systems that accompany them reduce the possibilities for cooperation. Peter R. Scholtes, a senior management consultant at Joiner Associates Inc. mentions’ that people are using the system for only personal gain and the collective gain is thrown out the window. Without cooperation there will be no quality in work. We learn that the competition for rewards will destroy cooperation. There are more people who lose out on the rewards then who win. When the recognition of such rewards is publicized through use of memos, newsletters etc. the result of losing is even more impactful to the employee. We begin

Get Access