Incentive Systems & Video Games.

I learned that the work/process level is where I begin to be out of my depth at the workplace – specifically as a manager. I do well one-on-one because I really see people as individuals. At the worker level, the employee is the “hero” of the story created in the analysis. Gilbert’s BEM is about the individual and I feel comfortable there. I resonated with Frumkin’s statement that we “don’t know how to design a workplace in which everyone feels valued” (p. 465).

The work/process level, however, is a bigger picture/view of the work. Individuals become teams and teams follow processes. Addison, Haig, and Kearny (2009) used a case/story to illustrate performance issues at the worker/process level, and I realized I was still approaching the reading this week from the worker level. And yet, there remained some focus on the individual worker, especially when considering rewards or incentives, since to be effective they should align with employee needs/desires (Frumkin, 2009, p. 468).

Condly states “an incentive system is not a tool or a technique; rather, it is a self-contained, but organizationally nested, collection of goals or desired outcomes, objects (for example, money), people (manager, and incented employees), procedures, rules, strictures, and measurable outcomes” (p. 446). This is where we fall into the danger of creating silos when we create incentive programs that are specific to a team because the reward is specific to their needs. We isolate them if we don’t also place their work, performance, and goals, in the larger context within the organization.

If I were to use a video game as an example, one could say that the player is incentivized to “save the princess.” But there are several levels to the game that one must get through first, each level with its own rewards. What keeps the player engaged enough to continue through each level, especially when they’re continually “killed” before obtaining the final goal? The rewards along the way are nice, but it’s the opportunity to improve – to get a little further than last time – that motivates the player to keep playing.  They have tapped into their intrinsic motivation.

What I learned this week is that there is a balance and symmetry to designing an incentive system that takes the entire organization into account while focusing on the needs of the worker. And, just like in the video game, it’s important to keep the rules of the game in place long enough for the employees to benefit from them and improve their performance. An effective incentive system incentivizes employees to improve their behavior and their thinking, which leads to improved employee attitude and self-efficacy (Condly, 2009, p. 446).

The key to all of this success is to create a well-designed and implemented incentive system and to do that, the HP practitioner must perform an assessment and suggest interventions based on evidence. Only then can the incentive system be specific enough to be effective.

Resources

Addison, R., Haig, C., & Kearny, L. (2009). The worker: Individual/team level. In Performance architecture: The art and scient of improving organizations. San Francisco, CA: Pfeiffer. https://boisestate.eblib.com/patron/FullRecord.aspx?p=510101

Condly, S. J. (2009). Incentive systems. In R. Watkins & D. Leigh (Eds.) Handbook of improving performance in the workplace: The handbook of selecting and implementing performance interventions. (pp. 445-464). San Francisco, CA: Pfeiffer. https://boisestate.eblib.com/atron/FullRecord.aspx?p=468975

Frumkin, J. J. (2009). Rewards, positive reinforcement, and incentive systems.  In R. Watkins & D. Leigh (Eds.) Handbook of improving performance in the workplace: The handbook of selecting and implementing performance interventions. (pp. 465-481). San Francisco, CA: Pfeiffer. https://boisestate.eblib.com/atron/FullRecord.aspx?p=468975