When I worked as a project coordinator at a small company, I was part of a team made up of technicians, a supervisor/coordinator, and me. Over time, I gradually took on more responsibility — stepping into gaps and taking on whatever was needed to keep things moving. As someone who is naturally conscientious, reliability is important to me. I take pride in doing things well and supporting the team’s success. Taking on additional duties only increased the value I brought and deepened my contribution to the team.
During this period, the company was growing and the owner made significant changes to our total rewards package. Five PTO days were eliminated, and a performance bonus system was introduced. However, the performance bonus rollout lacked structure altogether—there was no clear plan or transparency around the timeline for when each employee would become eligible, despite it being presented as a system that applied to everyone on staff. My boss assured me that my plan was coming, but they needed more data to create my plan. I continued taking on more dutes with no real plan for how my bonus system would materialize.
At the same time, the new incentive system revealed a classic case of the “folly of rewarding A while hoping for B.” The owner hoped to motivate technicians and improve efficiency and quality, but the bonus metrics unintentionally rewarded them for overreporting time spent on jobs. As the person creating invoices, the pattern was hard to miss. I raised the concern, but watching others receive bonuses for behaviors I found ethically questionable left me feeling conflicted. I genuinely liked my coworkers, but I didn’t like the behavior the system was incentivizing. Their actions contradicted our duty of being good stewards of our property owners’ funds, and it was frustrating to see those choices rewarded while no bonus plan for me was even being discussed.
Between losing part of my PTO and having no timeline for my bonus plan to be implemented, equity theory came into play. I felt as though I was taking a pay cut while my workload continued to increase. Furthermore, I was witnessing unethical behavior being rewarded. Admittadly emotional, I internalized the message that my contributions weren’t valued in the same way as others’.
I ultimately left the organization for this reason, among others. Walking away wasn’t easy, but at the time it felt like an act of self-respect. My decision wasn’t solely based on compensation but it absolutely played a part.
Citations:
Swift, M. (2024). Compensation and incentives (Lectures 1–5). Oregon State University, Canvas LMS. https://canvas.oregonstate.edu/courses/2054905/pages/week-8-learning-materials?module_item_id=26215294
Kerr, S. (1975). On the folly of rewarding A, while hoping for B. Academy of Management Journal, 18(4), 769–783.
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