Categories
All
|
Musings on education Something new each week starting soon Archives
November 2016
|
Is it possible to pay school administrators too much? OK, it's a catchy title meant to hook you, but follow my logic. I started thinking about this possibility while reading articles on CEOs' pay and the role of incentives in Harvard Business Review. I then wondered if the ideas held validity in schools. ![]() Research shows that money ranks 5th or even 6th for people in management when asked "What do you care about?" W. Edward Deming famously declared that "pay is not a motivator". (He also said "Forces of Destruction: grades in school, merit system, incentive pay, business plans, quotas.") Dan Pink went further in "Drive" by saying "The best use of money as a motivator is to pay people enough to take the issue of money off the table: Pay people enough so that they’re not thinking about money and they’re thinking about the work. Once you do that, it turns out there are three factors that the science shows lead to better performance, not to mention personal satisfaction: autonomy, mastery, and purpose." Simple enough: enough money takes money off the table. However, is it possible to pay people so much that the potential LOSS of their high salary puts money back on the table? In other words, if they are paid above market value, do they fear losing that incredible salary? What would you do if you really wanted to keep your job because of the salary? How would this affect your actions, your decisions?
In any school, policy is set by the Board and then carried out by the administration. There is ample room for risk-taking, starting new endeavours and leading as long as policy is followed. For example:
However, let's say an administrator becomes risk-averse. How could risk-aversion affect decision-making?
I wonder if these musings are at all valid. In the abstract form, they seem possible, but I wonder what people's experiences / thoughts may be. Looking forward to any comments you may have.
Until next week.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |