Reward alignment

Disciplines > Change Management > Creating change > Reward alignment

Method | Example | Discussion | See also

Method

When you make a change, ensure that you align the reward system with the changes that you want to happen.

Example

A company wants to increase teamworking. To support this, they remove individual bonuses and only give bonuses for team success.

An organization that wants to increase its customer base, pays sales people for each new customer they gain. They also want to retain customers, so they also cut bonuses when a customer assigned to a sales person defects to a competitor.

Discussion

A surprisingly common trap in change is to ask (or even demand) that people change, yet the reward system that is driving their behavior is not changed. Requesting teamwork and rewarding individuals is a very common example.

Many people are driven by extrinsic rewards, and the saying 'Show me how I'm paid and I'll show you how I behave' is surprisingly common.