Bonuses reflect mistrust, not motivation. True engagement in knowledge work comes from purpose, autonomy, and meaningful challenges—not financial rewards.
Bonuses are not incentives. They’re symptoms of a system that doesn’t trust people to care about their work.
In a knowledge economy, the best people are not motivated by a few extra pounds or dollars. They’re motivated by purpose, autonomy, and the chance to solve hard problems.
You don’t need to bribe great engineers to do their job. You just need to stop getting in their way.
If your company still relies on carrots and sticks, it’s not agile. It’s not modern. It’s just Taylorism with a friendlier HR policy.
The knowledge age demands agency—not compliance.
If your performance systems are designed for factory work, don’t be surprised when your team acts like factory workers.
Stop optimising for output. Start building for outcomes.
Are your incentives helping or hurting?
No related Blog found.
No related videos found.
If you've made it this far, it's worth connecting with our principal consultant and coach, Martin Hinshelwood, for a 30-minute 'ask me anything' call.
We partner with businesses across diverse industries, including finance, insurance, healthcare, pharmaceuticals, technology, engineering, transportation, hospitality, entertainment, legal, government, and military sectors.
CR2
Ericson
Flowmaster (a Mentor Graphics Company)
Trayport
YearUp.org
Schlumberger
Illumina
Graham & Brown
Lean SA
Brandes Investment Partners L.P.
Jack Links
Sage
Epic Games
Cognizant Microsoft Business Group (MBG)
Boeing
Workday
MacDonald Humfrey (Automation) Ltd.
Freadom
Royal Air Force
Washington Department of Enterprise Services
Washington Department of Transport
Department of Work and Pensions (UK)
Nottingham County Council
New Hampshire Supreme Court
Trayport
Brandes Investment Partners L.P.
Teleplan
Boeing
New Signature
Schlumberger