Pink & Work

Before this week's assignment, I had never heard of Daniel Pink.  I was not aware of him but am very thankful that his presence (and message) has been brought to my attention.  While we are studying portions of his book, Drive, in relation to motivation in the educational realm, I could not help but reflect on the applicability of many of his messages with relation to my work situation.

In my response for last week's class, I mentioned how my employer uses annual performance evaluations as a basis for employees' raises.  I also mentioned how we (the employees) have not been given a raise in three years, not even a cost of living adjustment in our salaries.  This past Friday was the due date for employee evaluations to be turned into HR (this deadline was posted on the HR website for everyone to see).  Well, my supervisor has been "too busy" to do evaluations for his employees.  Mind you, these are the same evaluations which will gauge how much of a raise I would receive (if raises are issued to employees which I don't think they will be since the new talk around the water-cooler is of a 5% reduction in all departments and therefore possible lay-offs).  However, on the off-chance raises would be issued, they are based on the performance evaluations.  So now there is a chance I wouldn't get a raise because this evaluation has not been done (I doubt my supervisor lives paycheck-to-paycheck like I do, he makes well over $100k a year, I make a fraction of that).  What does this due to my motivation ... well to be honest, it completely lowers it. Thus, Daniel Pink's assertion of using the carrot & the stick as motivators in the workplace connected with my current work situation.  The carrot (a raise) has been removed, even though this carrot has been the incentive put in place to entice employees into better work performance; once that carrot is removed, motivation is as well.

Another connection was made with regard to evaluations, raises (carrots) and motivation.  While employees have not been offered a raise in three years, one employee will be receiving a significant raise this summer.  At the end of this fiscal year, one employee will earn over a 51% increase on his base salary, as well as a bonus upon his retirement.  Wow, that's a pretty good deal for someone already earning over $460k a year.  But what message does this send to the thousands of employees who work for the same company, who have not received even a 1% raise for three years? Not a very good one.  Certainly not a very motivating one as it sends the message of who is important/valued in this organization and who is not.

And finally, all of this led me to think upwards of the business models used in this country with regard to rewards and motivation.  I started this blog thinking of my personal situation but the problem is so much larger than the one establishment where I work.  I feel like it is so ingrained in the American work culture, that it can seem almost hopeless to the people at the bottom.  As I read Daniel Pink's chapter in Drive titled "Seven Reasons Carrots and Sticks (Often) Don't Work . . ." and the following chapter ". . . and the Special Circumstances When They Do," I could not help but think of the documentary Inside Job.  This documentary examines the financial crises of the last few years in the American economy.  Over and over in this documentary, examples are provided of people who took risks and were rewarded, even when doing something they knew was wrong.  Several passages in these chapters echoed facts from the documentary.  This leads me to wonder if the American capitalist culture of greed - of more, more, more - can ever be replaced with the model of autonomy, mastery and purpose. Here's to hoping it can!

Link to Inside Job trailer

Pink, D. (2009). Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us. Riverhead.