Gainsharing in Zebulon: What Do Workers Want?

Gainsharing, an instrument for implementing pay for performance, is a synthesis of participatory management and profit sharing.1 With increased interest in both pay-for-performance and total quality management (TQM), gainsharing programs have attracted the attention of public sector organizations. Gainsharing is a means for encouraging and motivating employees through extrinsic expectancy rewards within a group or organizational framework. It combines TQM's emphasis on the advantages derived from team work (and away from the distractions of individual competition) with the motivational effect of a strong individual reward system.2 This study examines employees' attitudes and perceptions about one local government's gainsharing plan. The employees' perceived ability to affect the savings on which the gainsharing award is based, their influence over the components included in the gainsharing calculations, control over the criteria used in determining individual eligibility for a gainsharing award and an employee ranking of individual actor influence on the gainsharing plan are measured.