ch 12: Pay for Performance Flashcards
what is fixed pay?
- compensation independent of performance levels
- includes base pay and other forms of compensation
what is variable pay?
- any plan that links pay with productivity, profitability, or some other measure of organizational performance
- employers prefer variable pay plans while holding salary increases of fixed compensation at modest levels
- accurate performance appraisal = a condition of pay-for-performance plans
what are the motivation theories that have relevance to designing incentive plans?
- motivation and Frederick Herzberg
- demotivators and Edward Deci
- expectancy theory and Victor Vroom
describe the motivation and Frederick Herzberg theory
- best motivations come from a job that provides challenge and recognition
- satisfactory pay and working conditions just keeps the person from becoming dissatisfied
- managers should emphasize job content to motivate
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intrinsic motivation comes from the pleasure of doing a good job
- challenging work provides a sort of built-in motivation generator
- AKA motivator factors
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extrinsic motivation comes from external rewards
- AKA hygiene factors
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intrinsic motivation comes from the pleasure of doing a good job
describe the demotivators and Edward Deci theory
- the potential downside of relying on extrinsic rewards:
- could detract from the person’s intrinsic motivation
- highly motivated employees may find pay for productivity demeaning and lose the desire to do the job well out of a sense of responsibility
- Be cautious in devising incentive pay for highly motivated employees, lest you inadvertently demean and detract from the desire they have to do the job out of a sense of responsibility
describe the expectancy theory and Victor Vroom
- people won’t pursue rewards they find unattractive, or where the odds of success are very low
- a person’s motivation to exert some level of effort depends on three things:
- expectancy - the probability that effort will lead to performance
- instrumentality - the connection between performance and getting a reward
- valence - perceived value the person attaches to the reward
- if expectancy is lacking, the manager must ensure that the employee has the skills and confidence to do the job
- employees must believe in the instrumentality - successful performance will lead to a reward
- provide easy to understand incentive plans
- delivery on promised rewards
- the reward must be of value to the employee
what is expectancy?
A person’s expectation that his or her effort will lead to performance.
what is instrumentality?
The perceived relationship between successful perform ance and obtaining the reward.
what is valence?
The perceived value a person attaches to the reward.
what are the different types of incentive plans for all employees?
- merit pay
- traditional merit pay plans
- employee share purchase/stock ownership plans (ESOP)
- profit-sharing plans
- Scanlon plans
- gainsharing plans
- piecework plans
describe merit pay
- any salary increase that is awarded based on individual performance
- only pay tied directly to performance can motivate improved performance
- usefulness depends on the validity of the performance appraisal system
- AKA merit raise
why can merit pays backfire?
- the usefulness of the merit pay plan depends on the validity of the performance appraisal system, because if performance appraisals are viewed as unfair, so too will the merit pay that is based on them.
- supervisors often tend to minimize differences in employee performance when computing merit raises
- some believe that merit pay pits employees against each other and harms team spirit
what are traditional merit pay plans?
granted once a year as a pay raise, or a single lump sum without changing base salary
describe employee share purchase/stock ownership plans (ESOP)
- can encourage employees to develop a sense of ownership and commitment to the firm
- A plan whereby a trust is established to hold shares of company stock purchased for or issued to employees. The trust distributes the stock to employees on retirement, separation from service, or as otherwise prescribed by the plan
describe profit-sharing plans
- help attract, retain, and motivate workers
- offer tax advantages
- easy to administer; broad appeal to employees
- might produce one-time productivity improvement only
- most or all employees receive a share of the company’s profits
what are cash plans?
a percentage of profits (usually 15 to 20 percent) is distributed as profit shares at regular intervals