Government Needs to Rethink Employee Compensation Plans

The Office of Management and Budget is committed to improving government’s performance. But while reorganizing and eliminating unnecessary jobs could reduce costs, that does not necessarily lead to better results. Reorganizations actually tend to disrupt working relationships so, for a time at least, performance often declines. Real gains come from assembling essential talent, adopting management practices that encourage collaboration and focus on organizational goals, and empowering employees to proactively achieve goals.
In that context, recognition and reward practices can reinforce desired behavior, provide a focus for work efforts, and influence the level of effort. That’s broadly accepted and backed by extensive research. It all falls apart, however, when managers and supervisors are ineffective-that includes micromanaging staff-or top management adopts policies that fail to acknowledge employee contributions. It’s when the work experience turns negative that employees become disengaged and their productivity declines.