Incentives

The topic of incentives has recently come up in my Project Management (PMP) certification program.  Some of the items we looked at were the Expectancy Theory, Maslow's Heirarchy of Needs, and Herzberg's hygiene factors.  While some of these do not directly address incentives, at least in terms of monetary benefit, they do address motivation.  Motivation, in my opinion, is the backbone of incentives.

The Expectancy Theory  states that employees who believe their efforts will lead to effective performance or rewards will remain productive when rewards meet expectations.  This is a learned behavior that we have come to expect since childhood.  If we do well, it will be recognized and rewarded.  If we do well and it is not rewarded, the problem lies with whomever is in the position of power to grant the reward.  When reward fails to be an option, and good work is not appropriately recognized, morale falls.  I tend to believe that this theory represents how employees function, as a whole. 

Maslow's Heirarchy of Needs describes the most basic to the most advanced levels of need that one can exhibit.  The first three are physiological, safety, and love/belonging.  However, for the purposes of incentives, I will focus on the top two: self-esteem and self-actualization.  Self-esteem is a major motive for incentives, as employees seek to be recognized for their work.  While any monetary or time-off incentive certainly sweetens the deal, it is the pride and recognition that push these people to continue performing at high levels.  This need is most closely associated with the Expectancy Theory in terms of motivation for performing at high levels.  Self-actualization, on the other hand, is much harder to come by.

I have told myself in certain situations that my motivation for doing a good job was due to transcending to this level.  For example, while working in the busiest trauma center in all of Afghanistan and Iraq combined, I convinced myself  that the sole purpose was to help people.  I can admit now that while I definitely believed in the mission, I had not transcended to this level.  I did not receive a day off for over seven months and saw, on a daily basis, death and maiming.  After some time, I came to expect recognition.  I knew that, at this time, while serving in the military I would not receive any form of monetary reward.  However, the performance award and evaluation ranking became an obsession of mine.  I wanted to be recognized.  I had not passed the self-esteem level.

This brings me to Herzberg's hygiene factors.  He states that hygiene factors, such as improved salary, working conditions, etc. can destroy motivation, but not improve it.  He also states that motivation stems from professional growth and recognition.  I only believe this to be true of people who are at least at the self-esteem level of Maslow's Heirarchy.

Now, to tie this in with my current organization, I believe that hygiene factors are vital.  The client site I work at is a hostile environment.  The consultants, for the most part, are higher paid than the clients.  However, we are often treated as second-class citizens.  The work itself is overshadowed.  In this case, improved hygiene factors, such as working conditions, would certainly improve motivation and performance.  To complicate matters, leadership fails to step in on behalf of the consultants.  The impression is that the leaders who do not have to work on client site are protected from the hostilities, yet still reap larger rewards.

This disconnect will eventually have a very negative impact on leaders who fail to provide adequate incentives for their employees.  So far, it appears that the cream rise and leave the project.  The less capable employees, who are more concerned with lower need levels (such as receiving a paycheck and not losing their homes), remain and perform poorly.  Eventually, this is recognized, as the performance issues permeate and reach the leadership.  At this point, the bonuses that the leaders received as a result of managing a large contract will be in jeopardy.

One cannot expect all employees to be motivated in the same way.  As a result, incentives will (and should) differ for individual needs.  Leaders who fail to recognize this will eventually succumb, as their own incentives are closely linked with the people actually performing the work (as T. Roosevelt said, "...the man who really counts in the world is the doer, not the mere critic-the man who actually does the work, even if roughly and imperfectly, not the man who only talks or writes about how it ought to be done.").