Professor Steve Kerr wrote an illustrious article, titled "On the folly of rewarding A while hoping for B that became a management classic." It is apparent that this article has been widely trendy and famous because of its insight and importance. The original report of 1975 and the updated one of 1995 offer many perfect models of situations where the incentive systems at times weaken the object. The abstract of this article reads as whether interacting with human beings, monkeys, or rats; it is barely contentious to affirm that majority of the creatures pursue information about what activities are motivated and then continue to do the things that are not to be rewarded. The scope to which this happens depends on the professed charisma of the incentives provided by expectancy, and operant theorists can fight with the importance of this concept.
The purpose of Kerr is to explain that people can expect to pretend or reasonably do the things, which are motivated instead of the things that need to be done. He argues that people should place their money on self-interest to know if the jokey is trying. One of the examples that Kerr gives is that during the Second World War, armies were dedicated for the period unless invalided or assassinated. The troops had a compelling reward system whose objective was to accelerate the end of the war. The Allied soldiers during the Vietnam War toured for a year or less, and their self-motivation was not connected to the termination of the war. Even though their governments desired them to concentrate on winning the battle, their motivations and incentives were related to their selfish gains, and they were present only for the duration.
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Kerr continues to say that people should not be surprised when health practitioners over-examine, over-prescribe and over-diagnose sickness. Most patients spend little of the cost and do not have incentives to stop the actions of the doctors. For the health practitioners, they may have some financial benefits from over-charging. However, they may benefit from costs and potential damage to misconduct suits. With this, over-charging reduces the chance of losing lawsuits or experiencing them if they happen. Most citizens desire to have truthful politicians who clearly state what they will do while in the office and then implement them when elected. Amazingly, the majority of politicians do not act this way, yet they are still selected. Frankness concerning programs and strategies usually harm the chance of these politicians to be elected. The community that comprises of strong support from the media will always maintain the incentive system, and it is the responsibility of the politicians to behave reasonably within the given incentive system.
All the models of incentive systems mentioned in this article motivate behavior, which is contrary to what is expected. The author of this article also indicated that business and companies are not immune to this kind of folly. He argues that promoting lasting profitability and expansion while motivating short-term achievements is a perfect example. Even better, a manager who asks his employees to acknowledge the challenge of extending targets but only motivates the employees who only meet three-quarter of the budget even when the budget comprises of less achieved targets. The folly or idiocy appears when the executive makes commitments to the goals of an organization yet they put pressure on the employees to produce term sales and production volumes irrespective of the implications of the quality.
My mother once told me of how she was pressured by her supervisor to accomplish a task that she was never familiar with and which was part of the supervisor's duties. The supervisor told her if she would perform the job within the set deadline, she will be greatly rewarded. Even though mum was not aware of how to accomplish the task, she was ready to risk to do something she was not familiar with for the sake of the incentive system. I will never forget the sleepless nights mum had just trying to complete the task. Fortunately enough, she finished the work within the set deadline and was rewarded. I believe this is an excellent example to explain how folly appears in most companies when managers commit to achieve the set goals of the company yet pressure their employees in attaining these objectives.
To sum up, a sufficient incentive and reward systems can significantly assist in solving most human resource issues. A perfect incentive system should comprise of the goals that a company sets for its workforce and the reward systems if the goals are accomplished. Therefore, a strategic incentive system for the workforce should always address four areas, which are appreciation, recognition, benefits, and compensation. For this reason, every company should implement winning and thriving incentive systems which acknowledge and motivate the behavior and productivity of the workforce. A good example is for the company is to implement incentive systems that recognize every employee as this will drive them to work hard to improve their skills and not to receive incentives or rewards.
