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Pay for performance is a fine goal to strive for...The problem with tipping is that...there's no disincentive for customers who defect and stiff the waiter So,

by 300bps 13y ago

Pay for performance is a fine goal to strive for...The problem with tipping is that...there's no disincentive for customers who defect and stiff the waiter So, it's a fine goal. Does that mean we scrap the goal because of one problem? People cheat welfare, social security, medicare, take-a-penny/leave-a-penny bins, lost and found departments, disability insurance and every other part of life. Some people will cheat the tip system. Inevitable. Unless you advocate getting rid of welfare, social security, medicare and - frankly - everything... Why are you holding tipping up to such scrutiny? I agree with your first statement. Pay for performance is a fine goal to strive for and we shouldn't throw the baby away with the bathwater because of a minority of cheaters.

lisper 13y ago
> Does that mean we scrap the goal because of one problem? Of course not. But it doesn't mean being complacent and living with a bad solution. There are so many better ways to provide pay for performance. For example: one could change the protocol so that instead of a baseline of zero service charge, the baseline is, say, 15%. This is part of the bill. But then you are free to add more for exceptionally good service or subtract for exceptionally bad service. Fewer people will stiff waiters if they have to be proactive in order to do so. BTW (and this is a rhetorical question): why should pay-for-performance be limited to waiters? Why not extend it to the cooks as well? Why not let people just pay what they thought the meal was worth? Why not extend it to other professions? Pay your doctor, your lawyer, any service provider, what you thought the service was worth after it has been provided?
doorhammer 13y ago
I think the difference here is that the article didn't just say "I threw out x." It said "I replaced x with y and y has proven to be more effective in my context based on performance indicators that I care about."
dragonwriter 13y ago
> So, it's a fine goal. Does that mean we scrap the goal because of one problem? No, but we could, instead of the tipping culture, just handle it like every other area of economic endeavor: customer willingness to pay the business is driven by the business's performance in meeting the customer's needs, and the business's willingness to pay the employee is driven by the employee's performance in meeting the customer's needs. There's no need of a special case solution for restaurant waitstaff when there is already a general solution to acheiving the goal that does not have the problems at issue.

by 300bps 13y ago

lisper 13y ago

> Does that mean we scrap the goal because of one problem? Of course not. But it doesn't mean being complacent and living with a bad solution. There are so many better ways to provide pay for performance. For example: one could change the protocol so that instead of a baseline of zero service charge, the baseline is, say, 15%. This is part of the bill. But then you are free to add more for exceptionally good service or subtract for exceptionally bad service. Fewer people will stiff waiters if they have to be proactive in order to do so. BTW (and this is a rhetorical question): why should pay-for-performance be limited to waiters? Why not extend it to the cooks as well? Why not let people just pay what they thought the meal was worth? Why not extend it to other professions? Pay your doctor, your lawyer, any service provider, what you thought the service was worth after it has been provided?

doorhammer 13y ago

I think the difference here is that the article didn't just say "I threw out x." It said "I replaced x with y and y has proven to be more effective in my context based on performance indicators that I care about."

dragonwriter 13y ago

> So, it's a fine goal. Does that mean we scrap the goal because of one problem? No, but we could, instead of the tipping culture, just handle it like every other area of economic endeavor: customer willingness to pay the business is driven by the business's performance in meeting the customer's needs, and the business's willingness to pay the employee is driven by the employee's performance in meeting the customer's needs. There's no need of a special case solution for restaurant waitstaff when there is already a general solution to acheiving the goal that does not have the problems at issue.