Gray, you responded to Simon in saying,
"It is impossible to accurately reward people for all the contributions
they make to the organisation, ..."
Your statement made me pause to think about compensation in an
organization. I'm not sure that I want to work in an organization where
every contribution is directly rewarded. I say this for two reasons:
First, because direct compensation and rewards are rather artificial, a
price for doing business. How many of us would do our work without direct
compensation. Or rather, what do we do which does not result in direct
compensation. By artificial I mean that it is standardized and applied
across the company, not personally directed at me. Even employee of the
month awards are not really personally rewarding.
Secondly, if all my contributions were rewarded directly, the
organization's focus would have to dramatically change. Imagine the
amount of tracking which would have to be done to make sure ever
contribution is noted and rewarded.
I think that the benefit of the learning organization ideal is that the
indirect compensations, which, I believe, are more personally satisfying,
are elevated to a more equal level with direct compensation. I guess what
I am saying is that I find that my internal reward system is not
equivalent to the organization's compensaton system.
Yes, I want a pay check which reflects the value of my contribution to the
organization. But I also have standards of work performance which exceed
that of my employer. Therefore, I am more motivated by my own internal
rewards system, than the organization's recognition.
I end with the question: How can managers foster a system which elevates
those personal, indirect rewards to a level equivalent to direct
compensation?
Thanks,
Ed Brenegar
Leadership Resources
edb3@msn.com
--"Ed Brenegar" <edb3@msn.com>
Learning-org -- An Internet Dialog on Learning Organizations For info: <rkarash@karash.com> -or- <http://world.std.com/~lo/>