Is Pay for Performance the Best Motivation around the World - Coursework Example

Name Date Tutor Is Pay for performance the best motivation around the world Pay for performance has been employed for a long time by many organizations to control the behavior of workers. This has made many people to believe in it as the tool to best motivate employees. With time, the society has changed and the use of punishment and rewards in workplaces is receiving more and more criticism (Thomson, 2010).This method of management is out dated and no longer bears the desired fruits. It should be abolished so that people can find better ways of managing and handling their workers. Thus this paper will analyze the effects of pay performance in regards to employees; the paper will elaborate on various ways in which payments can affect the productivity within the business sector, Furthermore the paper will look broadly on the effects of rewards and employees in terms of their production within the organization Impacts of payments on employees’ performance. Paying or not paying workers for their performance needs to be reconsidered because it kills motivation instead of nurturing it. People need to be taught how to motivate themselves in order to increase the productivity and performance of the organization. Workers would feel better and free if there was no threat of reward or failure to get it. They would be more motivated if they know they are working to raise the image of the organization and not to get a certain reward or punishment in case of failure to please their seniors (Green 63).The presence of a reward can make people aim at short term results where the output can easily be measured. Pay for performance can nurture bad habits in workers. This happens when workers opt to take the easiest ways to reach a goal. In case this happens, then certain virtues like risk taking, creativity and courage are hindered. This becomes detrimental to the success of the organization. If risks cannot be taken because people are less courageous then innovation cannot be happened. This means an organization can be edged out by competitors since its employees are no longer creative. When a person who detests his/her job is given a reward it will satisfy them only until they gets the next bonus. Rewards and work performance Rewards or payment for performance kills cooperation by fostering unhealthy competition. Many managers desire that their people should work together since team work brings results. To the contrary they encourage their workers to compete against each other by fighting for rewards that are offered to the best performers (Karia, N & Ahmad, Z.A 2000).When people are given promises of rewards or denials of those rewards, then individual efforts are transformed into strategies of how to outdo others and achieve the reward. For some time this method can work but given time it degenerates into lack of cooperation and enmity between workers who want to outshine their colleagues. Rewarding performing workers can also increase the cost of running an organization. Take the example of companies that give international trips to well performed employees. This adds to the expenditure of the organization and it may be hard especially in profit making organizations (Karia, N & Ahmad, Z.A 2000). Their desire is to have that last penny come in and not give it out on things that can be avoided. This method cannot be practiced by young upcoming organizations that risk making losses if their expenditure is increased beyond the profits. Again an organization may not meet the taste of its workers in terms of rewards. Some employees may resent the type or value of reward offered thinking that it does not match their efforts. As a result rebellion might arise (Ooi, K.B & Arumugam 2006). Payment only works with interest from the intended recipient. If the workers being targeted have no interest in the reward then it will not work. Some of them might reason that the rewards are not important to them and so they have no desire to earn them. Take the example a company that takes its employees who have performed well to end of the year dinners. This reward may not attract the interest of those workers who dislike social gatherings or are not after food (Nowak 2001). Rewarding or failing to pay fosters the idea that all kinds of behavior can be shaped by external approaches just like in training animals. This leaves no room for internal approaches like self talk. It becomes hard to bring a long lasting change in behavior since it only relies on the expected reward or payment. Rewarding does not bring any sense of ownership and belonging in the staff (Cascio 46). Workers need to be told that the work they are doing or the company they are working for belongs to them and they should work to better themselves. If this is what motivates them then they can work harder and take care of the interests of the organization with all diligence. Karia, N & Ahmad, Z.A (2000). A promise for a reward or a threat for denial of the reward then means that the workers are fully accountable to someone and therefore their level of responsibility can fall. It shows them that they are clearly under close supervision from those giving them the payment. These thoughts will make them believe that the work they are working for ‘colonial masters’ who own the company, own them and that is why they are being manipulated. Rewarding and punishing is not a good way to sustain behavior As long as the promise for the reward stands, then effort is made to get it. What happens if the reward or payment is withdrawn? It means the people will relax because what was keeping them on toes or the source of their motivation is gone. A careless worker will be overjoyed to get the news that he will no longer be paying for his careless actions that bring losses to the company. A hard working employee would feel let down if what has been driving him to work hard and bring performance is no longer there. Workers will always ask the question; ‘What will be done to me if I do this?’ That means their desire is to get a reward but not to make the organization move forward. People who are used to getting rewards for good things done can be tempted to think that that is how it should be anywhere in the society (Green 63). They will expect to be rewarded if when they perform their obligations or perform an act of kindness. It is therefore clear that the societal morals can be at risk if rewarding is taken to be the norm. Imposed punishments bring bad feeling to the victims. People are unable to work well with negative feeling and resentment towards those trying to deny them payment. This system therefore does not promote peaceful coexistence. It can evoke thoughts of revenge and rebellion where some workers seek to ‘destroy’ in revenge for bad treatment given to them. With all the points raised in support of the abolishment of rewards or payment for good performance, we however should not ignore the part that these things have played in good management in the past. Many organizations have employed this technique successfully and it has been rewarding to them (Lynch, 2003). Rewards have been known to boost motivation. This happens when the workers treasure what is being offered as a reward and long to have it. Performance is easily increased if people know that something has been offered for their extra effort. When rewarded workers read kind gestures in those rewarding them they feel loved, cared for and valued in the organization to be given recognition through the reward. Workers who feel cared for are very easily convinced to buy the vision and mission of the organization and seek to achieve it (Lynch 2003).Punishments by failing to pay non performers can also reduce the level of irresponsibility and indiscipline among the workers in an organization. The fear inflicted may cause some workers to put more effort in their work and therefore help the company achieve its objectives. In the long run, workers can be compelled to work harder in order to avoid the shame and embarrassment of being subjected to punishment or failing to receive any pay with those who have performed well. In regards to Braithwaite (2002) rewarding workers can also help the company to have a good name in the corporate world. The image of the organization is enhanced because the company is rated highly in the way it treats its workers. This can translate into more business and profits for the organization. The company can also win result in terms of a better performance in human resource management. Some rewards are given in terms of promotions for the hard working employees. They may also take the form of other incentives. All this will be interpreted as good treatment to the workers. Healthy competition can also be encouraged through rewards and punishments. When something is in the offing for those who do well, then everybody else will want to go for it. The lazy workers will also put in more effort in order to get it (Nowak 2001). Others will want to avoid the punishment that comes with failing to achieve the set goals for the organization. All these efforts and hard work will eventually translate into more volumes of work done within the normal time and eventually a bigger profit margin. Competition can also be enhanced not just between individual workers but also at the departmental or section levels. Department members working as a group does much work as they strive to beat the other departments in the volume of work done or goals achieved (Helms 139).The overall result is that the position of the organization will be lifted. Conclusion Rewarding employees by paying them or punishing them by failing to pay them has more problems than benefits. It causes people to compete in unhealthy ways, get hooked on rewards, raise operating costs and destroy the sense of ownership and belonging in employees among other things. The Payment and rewards no longer bring the desired results as they did at the beginning. This may call for a change of strategy because people cannot do the same things through out and expect different result (Nelson, 2007. This will give managers an opportunity to come up with better and permanent ways of solving problems. Companies will foster better relations with their staff hence rapid growth in the profits and achievement of objectives. Works cited   Allen, R. and Helms, M. (2002). Employee perceptions of relationships between strategy rewards and organizational performance. Journal of Business Strategies, 19 (2). Pp 115-139. The International Journal of Human Resource Management; Thomson ISI Journal Citation Report 2010 Azoulay, D. (Spring 1999). Encouragement and Logical Consequences versus Rewards and Punishment: A Reexamination [Electronic Version]. Journal of Individual Psychology, 55(1), 91-99. Bruce, A. (2006). How to Motivate Every Employee: 24 Proven Tactics to Spark Productivity in the Workplace. McGraw-Hill Companies. Cascio, Wayne F., and Peter Cappelli. “Lessons from the financial services crisis.” HR Magazine 54:1 (2009): 46–50. Karia, N & Ahmad, Z.A (2000). Quality practices that pay: Empowerment and teamwork. Malaysian Management Review, 35(2), pp 66-76. 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