To Bonus or Not To Bonus…That Is The Question

There are many studies that show that bonuses can have significant downsides. From motivating employees to use unscrupulous tactics to achieve bonuses, to the long-term negative motivations, it’s been proven that offering people incentives for performance can have disastrous consequences. If that’s the case, why do we still find doctors offering bonuses to their teams?

Maybe there are benefits…

Sure, giving incentives to reach goals should help motivate team members in the short term. Even when one is given daily or weekly bonuses, the power is still reduced over time. But, there’s no doubt that when the bonus is paid, team members are excited and happy. Morale can soar.

However, what about jealousy? How do we handle those who are part time employees? Or perhaps different bonuses for different positions?

There are many studies that show that bonuses can have significant downsides. From motivating employees to use unscrupulous tactics to achieve bonuses, to the long-term negative motivations, it’s been proven that offering people incentives for performance can have disastrous consequences. If that’s the case, why do we still find doctors offering bonuses to their teams?

Maybe there are benefits…

Sure, giving incentives to reach goals should help motivate team members in the short term. Even when one is given daily or weekly bonuses, the power is still reduced over time. But, there’s no doubt that when the bonus is paid, team members are excited and happy. Morale can soar.

However, what about jealousy? How do we handle those who are part time employees? Or perhaps different bonuses for different positions?