6.2. CHANGING THE REWARD SYSTEM TO SUPPORT TECHNICAL CAREERS

Thompson and Dalton (1976) suggest that there are a number of things organizations can do to improve the motivation of technical personnel. For example, they can pay for performance and not position. In other words, people who are doing first-rate work that is important to the organization should receive the same pay, regardless of their title or position level. But there are objections to this idea. The implication of such change is that a person whose performance deteriorates gets less pay, and this is something that many employees find very difficult to accept.

Another approach is to increase the visibility of those who are extremely effective. Most organizations do this by promotion, ...

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