Ultimate Rewards: What Really Motivates People to Achieve

Citation

McGrath, P. (1999), "Ultimate Rewards: What Really Motivates People to Achieve", Personnel Review, Vol. 28 No. 1/2, pp. 155-156. https://doi.org/10.1108/pr.1999.28.1_2.155.3

Ultimate Rewards is an edited anthology of articles and interviews from the Harvard Business Review dealing with the subject of motivation from both the individual and organisational perspective.

The introduction by Steven Kerr, the editor, provides a description of the key issues discussed by the various contributors to the anthology and, in addition, outlines a brief synopsis of how rewards and motivation are linked in the organisational context.

The articles and interviews span a period of over 20 years and Kerr admits in his introduction that they were never intended “to live together”. Kerr’s introduction assists the reader by elaborating the key issues and providing a framework to “permit the reader to make some collective sense of the contents of this book”.

Although the introduction does provide a useful discussion on rewards and motivation, it cannot be said that it adequately outlines a framework for the reader. It is only in the last paragraph that the structure of the book is linked to its main framework.

The book is divided into three parts followed by an excellent executive summary. Part One deals with the link between individual needs and organisational rewards. Part Two develops this theme by considering leadership styles and Part Three concludes the main section of the book and consists of structured interviews with executives in the worlds of business and sport. A concluding chapter looks at the modern company and cultural identity.

The first two chapters in the book are devoted to articles by Harry Levinson and Alfie Kohn respectively. Although the articles are separated by 20 years, they resonate with a similar theme ‐ that the reward systems adopted by organisations do not actually motivate employees to perform to a higher standard. Kohn is particularly dismissive of the processes used by organisations to motivate employees ‐ the chapter title “Incentive plans cannot work” sums up his approach ‐ but he does little to suggest what the organisation can do to motivate people to achieve higher standards of work.

Levinson, although critical of the “jackass theory” of motivation, does eventually provide insights into what organisations can accomplish in this area.

Chapter Three outlines the views of a number of US academics and business people as a critique of the Kohn approach. This chapter is useful as an examination of reward linked to motivation in the organisation although the criticism of Kohn can be extreme at times. The chapter concludes with Kohn responding to his critics.

Part One concludes with two chapters dealing with the subjects of employee ownership in the USA and the lessons to be learned from the voluntary sector in the area of strategy. Although both chapters are informative, they do not link well with the rest of this section of the book.

Part Two starts with a chapter seeking the answer to the often‐debated question: what makes or motivates a good manager? The authors, McClelland and Burnham, link the success of managers with their need for power and the ability to influence. This is an interesting and thought‐provoking chapter which concludes with a retrospective dealing with the flattened organisation of the 1990s.

Chapter Two in this section, written by Robert Schaffer, argues that many managers do not get the best out of their staff because they do not set taxing performance goals and settle for mediocre standards because they are safe. This chapter is well argued and convincing, again assisted by a retrospective commentary.

In the next chapter, Rosabeth Moss Kanter describes the changes in management work following corporate restructuring and argues that managers must master change if they are to be effective in the new organisational framework. This chapter sits well with the discussions outlined earlier in the section and this flow is continued in the final chapter of Part Two by Heifetz and Laurie, who discuss how leadership is changing and what can be expected of managers.

The final part of the book consists of three interviews, two with well‐known US businessmen and one with the former coach of the San Francisco 49ers, Bill Walsh. These interviews are interesting, especially the interview with Walsh, but add little to the debate on motivation in the organisational context.

The book concludes with a chapter by Goffee and Jones who examine the different types of culture to be found in the business community. They conclude by suggesting that managers must assess their own culture in the organisational framework before advocating change.

This is an interesting anthology which contributes to our understanding of motivation and reward in the modern organisation. The chapters are of varying interest to the reader and the main criticism I have is the apparent lack of structure in the book: the chapters do not link particularly well in certain areas and this does not lead to the text flowing in a smooth manner. A final chapter which draws the varied views and concepts together may have been of assistance in this context.