One of my friends is a delivery associate for Amazon. He has shared with me a variety of individual-based incentives that Amazon offers to motivate their delivery employees. Individual-based incentives are rewards for employees whose work is performed independently. Typically, they are based on objective standards, but the standards can be both objective and subjective (Swift, 2021). The first individual-based incentive that Amazon offers its drivers includes a $0.04 commission per package delivered. This is to give incentive for delivering a large number of packages a day because the more packages you deliver the more money you can make as an associate. Second, Amazon offers a $75 bonus for safe driving. This is calculated through an app called Mentor alongside vehicle monitoring cameras. The camera checks for stop violations, speeding, seatbelt use, and distracted driving. They rate drivers on a FICO scale out of 850 (maximum) with 820 being the minimum requirement for the safety bonus. This incentive is given out monthly to those drivers that reach the minimum score in that time frame. They post the scorecards for everyone to see, which include all safety and delivery statistics for each employee. Delivery statistics include things like a customer ‘did not receive’ and packages delivered with a picture. Additionally, if the driver is below an 800 FICO score, then they are not eligible for the $0.04 per package commission. Third, they also offer a bonus for consecutive weeks driving full time. Associates receive a $500 bonus quarterly based on attendance and need to meet 40 hours a week, plus a 1.5x hourly rate for overtime hours. Finally, the entry-level pay for drivers in the Seattle area is $20.50 an hour. When comparing this wage to competitors in the market Amazon is below market average. In the Seattle area, UPS pays $27.62 per hour, 82% above the national average (Indeed, 2021). This reminded me of the NYT article, Paying Employees to Stay, because they discussed how many companies that pay more are based in high-wage, high cost-of-living states, that often have minimum wages well above the federal law (Greenhouse and Strom, 2014). These factors affected my friend’s behavior because after being one of the top FICO score associates he was pleased with his outcome and it increased his motivation. However, after learning about competitors’ higher pay, he has considered leaving Amazon.
Citations
Swift, Michele. Lectures 1-5 Compensation & Incentives. 2021.
Greenhouse, S., & Strom, S. (2014, July 04). Paying Employees to Stay, Not to Go. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/05/business/economy/boloco-and-shake-shack-offer-above-average-pay.html
UPS Driver Salary in Seattle | Indeed.com
