Permalink Submitted by Old Codger (not verified) on Tue, 31/07/2007 - 19:37
I can never understand why high paid executives need bonuses to persuade them to get out of bed in the morning and do their job. If they are not sufficiently motivated without bonuses they should not be in that position at all. In addition, targets with rewards or penalties biases all activity in favour of the targets.
Civil Servants used to have a ethos of service, and relatively poor salaries but security of employment. Now they are on a gravy train funded by the taxpayer.
Years ago, when Britain used to make things, shop floor workers were often on piecework (a bonus system related to their output). They knew how to work the system to obtain maximum pay for minimum work. If the relatively uneducated workers managed it the highly educated management have no difficulty manipulating the system to appear to show the targeted results.
Well said, you Old Codger. You, me and Ludwig von Mises are in agreement - see my old post on Just Wages. Adam Smith also had a thing or two to say about the importance of well-designed incentives, though he seems to have envisaged that it was possible to design an appropriate performance-related pay structure for public servants. Perhaps (I doubt it - I think you and Mises are right - but never say never), but one thing's for sure, the particular form of performance-related pay in question was far from appropriate.
Permalink Submitted by Bob (not verified) on Thu, 02/08/2007 - 13:11
This bunch seem to have (pretty much) met their agreed conditions, so give them the cheques, then give the committee who agreed them a good kicking and get them drafting a better scheme for next year.
Did you see this? If not, have a look, and then tell me if you still think that they have delivered on their important targets. Is it simply a numbers game (which have been miscounted, by the way), or is there a qualitative element, with some targets being more important than others?
What would you suggest as appropriate targets, or as an appropriate scheme?
Comments
Bonuses
I can never understand why high paid executives need bonuses to persuade them to get out of bed in the morning and do their job. If they are not sufficiently motivated without bonuses they should not be in that position at all. In addition, targets with rewards or penalties biases all activity in favour of the targets.
Civil Servants used to have a ethos of service, and relatively poor salaries but security of employment. Now they are on a gravy train funded by the taxpayer.
Years ago, when Britain used to make things, shop floor workers were often on piecework (a bonus system related to their output). They knew how to work the system to obtain maximum pay for minimum work. If the relatively uneducated workers managed it the highly educated management have no difficulty manipulating the system to appear to show the targeted results.
Measuring civil-servants' performance
Well said, you Old Codger. You, me and Ludwig von Mises are in agreement - see my old post on Just Wages. Adam Smith also had a thing or two to say about the importance of well-designed incentives, though he seems to have envisaged that it was possible to design an appropriate performance-related pay structure for public servants. Perhaps (I doubt it - I think you and Mises are right - but never say never), but one thing's for sure, the particular form of performance-related pay in question was far from appropriate.
Well-designed bonus schemes are really useful
This bunch seem to have (pretty much) met their agreed conditions, so give them the cheques, then give the committee who agreed them a good kicking and get them drafting a better scheme for next year.
Bob.
Are you sure?
Bob,
Did you see this? If not, have a look, and then tell me if you still think that they have delivered on their important targets. Is it simply a numbers game (which have been miscounted, by the way), or is there a qualitative element, with some targets being more important than others?
What would you suggest as appropriate targets, or as an appropriate scheme?