How “type of a reward” helps achieve cooperation at IT companies..

Intro

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Achieving cooperation and delivering is a priority for IT companies.

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As part of this blog series, we look at “systematic” concepts that help achieve cooperation. We’ve looked at …

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Today we talk about …

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Nature of rewards/ punishments.

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What the organization assumed was a reward. In fact, it was a punishment. The subject is best described with real-life examples. So, here we go …

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Promoted to quit :

I was managing a very difficult project. Taking care of technical, managerial, design, architecture, client engagement, and other aspects. The right people became happy. And leadership promoted me to a ‘Manager’ position.

2 months later – I quit the job.

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What the organization assumed was a reward, to me, was a punishment !

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Why ?

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A common idea is – a manager supersedes an engineer.

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There are Techies and there are Managers. Both add value and are needed at IT organizations.

Personally, I have been interested in technical work. I do not have the aptitude or interest to be a manager.

So, to me – the idea that “a manager supersedes an engineer”, is just managerial hubris.

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When done in a standalone manner – Tech Management has no “Skin in the Game”. If you have seen managers use a lot of complex words to discuss a simple problem, then you’ve witnessed the concept.

.Growth gets stunted without ‘Skin in the Game’. This is one reason I keep away from Management.

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.Back to the subject …

The promotion was assumed to be a reward. When in fact, it was a punishment for me !

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Point being – understanding the Nature of Rewards is Important.

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Rewards

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Let us look at the various ways organizations “reward” employees:

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But each reward has a “next level” effect. Such an effect, while important, is less understood. Here is another story to drive the point …

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Social outcast :

The Director of an org told me that he wanted to “overload his employees”.

He explained – since single youngsters did not have many other things to do. They could ( and did ) contribute more to the organization.

One of his “bright boys” was a guy named Nikhil. The poster boy did nothing but work – day and night, weekdays and weekends. Of course he was rewarded for the work with faster promotion and salary hikes.

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Sounds fair right ? But, devil in the details. Remember the “next level” effect …

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Message to team was – work 24*7, to get your deserved appreciation.

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Few could compete with Nikhil’s work ethic. So, most did not get their deserved promotions. Many quit.

Also, once the team found out that Nikhil was responsible for them receiving poor bonuses. They implemented social sanctions on him. In turn, this brought down team productivity.

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Of Course the director did not realize that – Nikhil had become a social outcast.

An Outlier + Comparative rewards = Reduced productivity of the team

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Rewards cannot be comparative to an outlier.

Once again – Visibility (nature) of Rewards is Important..

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My take : Being the nerd that he was – rewarding Nikhil in silo would’ve been a better idea.

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Nature of punishment

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Exactly the same way, the “nature of punishments” matters too.

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Incorrect punishment :

I’ve written about a techie called Rahul. He was a Director at an organization and an underperformer. Of Course he wasn’t able to deliver on his tasks. And then used to choose the next best option.

Get help in the name of “teamwork”. He called his subordinates and asked them to put in long hours. Rahul’s team bore the added burden of what he failed to do.

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Rahul was reprimanded. But he did not care.

His behavior invited social sanctions. But he did not care.

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Why ? Wrong type of punishment.

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What would’ve happened in case Rahul wasn’t helped ?

He would’ve had to stay up long nights, all by himself. Right ? I bet he would’ve either quit or made corrections. And everyone would’ve been better off.

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You see – The nature of the punishment matters.

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Wrap up

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People want ( or avoid ) different things …

Achieving cooperation requires the “right incentive or disincentives”.

As they say : To each thy own !

Excerpts from: The Art of Strategy

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Next, we discuss the “Clarity” of punishments/ rewards.