Performance-Related Pay

803 Words2 Pages

In public administration and other fields, deciding on what basis to pay employees can be a difficult choice to make. In the past, there has been research and dialogue on whether government personnel employers should move to a system model that focuses on performance. In “Back to the Future? Performance-Related Pay, Empirical Research and the Perils of Persistence,” (2009) Perry et al reviewed prior research on performance-related pay and explained some of their own findings. While performance-related pay has been heavily used in the private sector, doing so in the public sector would not necessarily yield the same or similar results simply because the public sector faces different circumstances and limitations than private companies and …show more content…

If some public agencies find that performance-related pay is that system, then it is. However, this may not be the case for other public agencies or bodies. To help figure out whether performance-related pay is the right system or concept to put in place, it is important for public administrators to consider how their employees thrive within the workplace. Why did these employees apply to work in this agency or office? It is no secret at any stage of the job search that public sector jobs simply cannot offer some of the salaries that comparable positions in the private sector can provide to successful candidates. However, the public sector has not been stripped of its employees or applicants. What is attracting job seekers to the public sector, if not salary? According to the research review, “several studies included in this review found that employee motivation is not exclusively linked to pay” (p. 13), indicating that “managers need to supplement pay-based motivation techniques with other motivational models, including public service, values, and self-determination” (p. …show more content…

2). Looking at performance-related pay in the framework of reinforcement theory believe this system of payment and compensation “suggest that pay can be used to create consequences for desired behaviors such as high performance that will in turn reinforce the behaviors” (p. 2). In “The New Public Personnel Administration,” (2006) performance-related pay in the public sector is discussed. Performance-related pay is a major component of Civil Service Reform II, and “virtually all calls for civil service reform and actual reforms have included some form of PFP (pay for performance),” (Nigro et al, p. 182). The popularity of PFP is partly based “on the proposition that it remedies a fundamental flaw in traditional compensation systems by making pay contingent on performance, rather than the position grade and seniority of the employee” (p.

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