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I agree that the incentive

Submitted by simple Paul on April 27, 2008 - 09:53.

I agree that the incentive systems can always be gamed. That doesn't make them all bad. Some people don't really have a "passion" for their work; an extrinsic poke can help them.

My beef is with incentive plans that reward only the "top 10%" (or similar). Wouldn't it be wonderful if *everyone* met the goal? Then you run into the economic downturns (already mentioned here), or Unexpected Success -- where management expected to pay 2 or 3 bonuses, but instead things worked so well they're faced with paying 50. They *have* the 50x, but hey, that's a lot of money! Too much!

I had four relatives that offered me $1 for every "A" I got in grade school. I picked up a dollar here and there until I figured out how to study in 5th grade and started getting straight As. One relative paid off. Once. After that, no one could afford the $6 per semester.

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