Work without Carrots & Sticks
A shift in the language of labor.
Quick note to let you know we have new Whiskey Fridays episode out this week exploring a shift in language John and I have been noticing around labor and employment. Language signals deeper root changes— by the time the language shifts, there’s usually a deeper change afoot.
Instead of a language of incentives— those sparkly things you offer indolent employees who require treats to perform their jobs— we see a lot of folks shifting to language describing how a business might care for and meet human needs.
Of course, I admit that Wanderwell and the folks in our larger community are ahead of the bell curve here:
The NY times helpfully published a whole splashy piece the other week reminding me of how the wider world of employment is still very much operating on incentive logic. Capitalism as a system doesn’t care much about needs meeting, so it makes sense that businesses will seek to goad workers into greater productivity as a basic orientation.
What’s underneath the language of care is a lot of folks rethinking the purpose of their businesses. And that’s a pretty radical proposition.
My brain’s well on its way to winter vacation, so I’ll leave it at that. We’ve got already got a few episodes recorded for the new year, on such disparate topics as getting paid, post-capitalist economies, and on The Tyranny of Structurelessness. Wishing you a restful new year.
Thank you so much for another awesome episode! Short yet super powerful and thought provoking.
I have certainly utilized the 'carrot and stick' mentality and operational mechanisms to try and motivate employees in the past (for example, the longer you are employed, the greater % of your monthly health insurance premium the company pays for, or whatever). In general, it has been pretty unsuccessful for us. :( For me, the lesson has been that each team member (including myself as an owner) has pretty different needs and desires, and therefore, needs different carrots. Some people are indeed motivated by more money, others by praise, others by increased power / influence, others by increased security, etc. IMHO, thoughtful and loving management can still involve a carrot (and occasional stick i guess) but it just helps to be tailored to each employee. I believe setting goals and trying to motivate employees to improve through individually crafted rewards is not an inherently flawed approach. but, what the heck do i know ?!?!? We used to say that each employee has their own 'story arch' . However, problems can arise with 'fairness' and comparative compensation and such . It's so hard :)