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Right. It's vital that incentives are not made to feel like "awards," but are instead seen as part of the compensation structure. (I think that the "incentive p
by trominos 18y ago
Right. It's vital that incentives are not made to feel like "awards," but are instead seen as part of the compensation structure. (I think that the "incentive pay" Joel's talking about really means "public awards, possibly with cash associated.") "Incentive pay" in the simple sense of "pay tied to performance" is not necessarily divisive if it's handled tactfully and can be a substantial motivational force. I mean, that's what PG's always writing about in his essays—the power of a startup is that it harnesses pay very directly to performance.
- timr 18y agoIf you keep it secret, then I suppose that incentive pay is less harmful. The thing is, do you really want to go that way? I think that the only way that incentives are not harmful is if they're spread evenly across teams and tied to product success in the market. Most people can grasp why the team behind a successful product is paid more. Even then, though, you risk alienating the teams that don't do quite as well for reasons that aren't in their control.