The only thing worse than an incentive that doesn’t work is one that works all too well. Wells Fargo is just the latest company to be ethically embarrassed and financially distressed by a fiasco involving excessively motivational incentives. Thousands of employees were discharged over scandalous fraudulent practices that generated illegitimate bonuses and enriched salespeople while bilking their clients. This incident is merely the best publicized newest example of something that happens all the time, but it is important to us.
While the general public might just shrug at another set of criminal acts that can be laid at the feet of money-grubbing bankers, we in the compensation profession should take the lesson more seriously. The moral hazard problem is not industry-specific or even an issue about incentives. It strikes at the heart of our profession’s intense focus on applying rewards to generate positive output results from human resources.
Any fault lies not in capitalism but in human nature. Similar debacles involving reward system perversions occur in every kind of human enterprise in every social system on every continent. Government agencies,the halls of Congress, multinational conglomerates, non-profits, small companies, LLCs, partnerships and sole proprietorships all routinely stumble over the most basic principle of behavioral psychology: people always choose to act in ways that they perceive as best for themselves.
Any program effectively designed to generate rewards that are meaningful will tend to elicit behaviors intended to win those positive consequences. Each individual will choose:
- to perform as you desire to earn that reward,
- to ignore your offered inducement as less desirable than some other course of action or
- to take some other alternative path to attain the attractive reward.
That was simplified, of course, but you get the idea. We who do HR and compensation things are supposed to show mastery of the methodologies to create (or copy) marvelously efficient mechanisms to achieve top management objectives. On time and under budget, too.
As others have observed, good process can enhance any final incentive product. Strategic planning sessions, communications, Beta tests, focus group studies and performance audits are all basic steps that can help improve design and implementation. Precommitment agreements with honesty pledges signed at the top rather than merely at the end will create statistically significant improvement in compliance success, as well. But the final test of a viable incentive program will be its appropriate responsiveness to how the targets of the plan balance the consequences they see inherent in the situation. Employees affected by the plan might not see what you see or react they way you hope.
In one illustrative case, a State highway patrol chief asked for comments when he announced the introduction of an innovative pay for performance plan that would involve safety criteria. Part of the future pay evaluation of patrol officers would involve the traffic safety record in their area. A veteran sergeant immediately spoke up: “If I’m going to be held accountable for traffic accidents, Chief, we really need to get a stop light at Dead Man’s Corner, where I have to call for the meat wagon at least once a week.” The Chief responded, “OK, but you have covered that section for years, Sarge. Why didn’t you ever mention that before?” The sergeant answered, “Well, it was a great place to write tickets.”
Be careful what you ask for. You just might get it.
E. James (Jim) Brennan is an independent compensation advisor with extensive total rewards experience. After every kind of corporate HR and consulting role in every industry, he was Senior Associate of pay surveyor ERI before returning to consulting in 2015. A prolific writer (author of the Performance Management Workbook), speaker and frequent expert witness, Jim testified in many reasonable executive compensation cases. He also serves on the Advisory Board of the Compensation and Benefits Review.
Image by Tran Nhat, courtesy of Creative Commons
"Any fault lies not in capitalism but in human nature."
Jim, I think that's a bit too glib. I'd add that any executive who doesn't seriously take human nature into account is guilty of malpractice of capitalism. And, of course, human nature contains more than individually-based self-aggrandizement.
As counterpoint to your police story about Dead Man's curve, I remember watching the response of Accenture's then-CEO Bill Green to a partner who asked if the incentives would be adjusted to ensure enactment of a policy Green was proposing. Green's response was memorable: he rose up out of his chair, visibly agitated, and said:
"I don't ever want to hear that question again. If there's ever a conflict between doing the right thing and doing what the incentives suggest, first you do the right thing, and THEN you fix the incentives. Are we clear?"
That is an ethical capitalist, who very well understands human nature, and is determined to address it by appealing to our higher natures, rather than relying solely on tinkering with the flavors of cheese and the design of the maze to tweak the rats' behavior.
Posted by: Charlie Green | 09/19/2016 at 06:58 AM
Thanks for the good additional message there, Charlie. Unsure how my statement was "glib," though. It seemed obvious.
Every -ism you can think of (capital, social, commune, feudal, caveman, etc.) has sponsored the exact same situations that challenge us reward designers here. The hypocritical central planning fiascos of USSR and Red China proved the equal if not greater vulnerabilities of non-capitalist or anti-capitalist systems to perverse incentives. We all must deal with human nature as we stumble along trying to create situations where all parties benefit from desired outcomes. Not easy at all!
Posted by: E. James (Jim) Brennan | 09/20/2016 at 09:13 PM
Why would quality employees remain in this Wells Fargo quagmire? Good Wells Fargo employees that are getting caught up in this mess need encouragement.
Wells Fargo should consider a new way of encouraging employees while helping the community. Volunteerism on company time would be a miracle for any community based 501c3. Only 2% of Wells Fargo's work force volunteering 1 day a month would equal 1,000,000 volunteer hours yearly. The volunteer infrastructure is in place, Wells Fargo just needs to tap into the system. Wells Fargo employees could benefit from non-monetary incentives like a regional yearly retreat for volunteers.
There are so many ways Wells Fargo employees could volunteer, churches, boys and girls clubs, public recreation programs, volunteer to work alongside participants of a court ordered labor program, elder care, and so much more. Wells Fargo should still get the tax break for labor cost if volunteering happens during work hours. It's a win win and not much productivity lost if the volunteers plan ahead.
Posted by: Blu Loony | 10/07/2016 at 03:07 PM
Personally unaware of Wells Fargo's current volunteer support programs (if any), but most big corporations have them. Many subsidize and lead United Way fund drives, encourage direct paycheck deductions for charities, donate in-kind services and occasionally supply paid workers (frequently some waiting reassignment or layoff) for full time but temporary service. Charitable project assignments are also excellent options for testing leadership and project management skills without risk to the employer. Big is not always heartless.
Posted by: E. James (Jim) Brennan | 10/07/2016 at 05:32 PM