James Seechurn spent over a decade building compensation programs on a simple premise: design the incentive right, and you'll get the behavior you want. But his first clue that this was wrong came from watching it fail on him. As a young accountant on billable hours, slowing down to actually understand something cost him money. He kept redesigning bonus plans for clients anyway, until the pattern became impossible to ignore: paid people don't do better work, they just do whatever gets measured.
In this episode, Dart and James explore what we're actually buying when we pay someone, why pay-for-performance is really a form of control, and the false stories we tell ourselves about why people work.
James Seechurn is an independent rewards advisor and the author of What Pay Costs, Nothing Left to Take Away, and Close the Gap.
In this episode, Dart and James discuss: - What you're really buying when you pay someone - The cobra bounty that backfired - Why performance reviews grade the wrong person - Turning billable hours into a currency - Why quality is mostly the system, not the person - The company that let workers vote out their bosses - Why Semco sold itself back to its own people - Why pay-for-performance is really about control - Why companies rarely last past 15 years - And other topics…
James A. Seechurn is an independent rewards advisor with 20 years of experience in sales compensation and broad-based pay, including a decade at Aon's Rewards Solutions practice. A Fellow Chartered Accountant, he is the author of What Pay Costs, Nothing Left to Take Away, and Close the Gap. He hosts the Disengaged podcast.
Work with Dart: Dart is the CEO and co-founder of the work design firm 11fold. Build work that makes employees feel alive, connected to their work, and focused on what’s most important to the business. Book a call at 11fold.com.
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