By Nathan Bonilla-Warford, OD 
When I was an optician, I received spiffs when they were given to me. I’d get an extra dollar or two for selling upgrades like anti-reflective coating and high-index lenses, and more for selling multiple pairs of glasses. While I surely accepted the extra money, I never felt that these spiffs themselves resulted in increased sales. I simply sold each patient what was best for them.
It turns out that motivational science confirms what I always suspected: Spiffs do not work. In his 2009 book, Drive,Daniel Pink relates some surprising findings about how incentives work – and don’t work. Pink relates many scientific studies about two kinds of motivation. Intrinsic motivation comes from within. People want to do well on certain tasks because they are interested in them and are rewarded by tasks themselves. Extrinsic motivators are rewards offered to people to increase performance, such as money, gifts or other bonuses.
Studies show that extrinsic motivators such as monetary bonuses increase performance for some tasks. If you want to increase the number of bolts that are tightened on an assembly line, extra cash works. However, in tasks that require thought, like working with patients, monetary bonuses were found to have either no or negative effect on performance. Once the creative or highly skilled task is viewed in monetary terms, the intrinsic motivation suffers.
Think about the opticians in your office. Are they more like single-skill factory workers or creative professionals? I would argue that any staff member who interacts independently with patients leans to the latter. I have set up systems in my office to encourage my staff to be self-motivated to solve problems.
While I have never offered spiffs, I did offer monthly bonuses to the entire staff if we met monthly performance goals. After reading Drive, I discontinued this practice. We now offer occasional bonuses to reward staff members who do a particularly good job. When we do, it is a pleasant surprise. Since this change, neither staff morale or office performance has suffered, and it has saved thousands of dollars in bonuses.
Do you offer spiffs at your office? If so, do you have any evidence that they actually work? Or are they simply an entrenched tradition?
