Humans respond to incentives
So Elliot Spitzer has forced AOL to Pay a $1.25 Million Fine:
According to Spitzer's findings, AOL customer representatives received bonuses of thousands of dollars if they managed to retain about half of the people who called trying to cancel service -- and that led some employees to fail to process such requests. Workers who did not meet that quota were overlooked for promotions or sent for additional training, Spitzer's office said.
Incentives can positively impact employee behavior by re-inforcing and rewarding people for their shared pursuit of company goals. Incentives' dark side is that people will, understandably, take the signal the company gives them via cash rewards, and pursue it to the exclusion of other, laudable goals, such as honesty and enlightened customer service.
