A bonus is supposed to be an incentive for an employee to be more productive. In the case of a hospital chief executive, presumably a bonus should be related to running a better hospital. You’d think that has to be linked to patient care – both in terms of its efficiency and the experience of the patient. It should also factor in other hospital workers, making sure they are not only efficient, but that there is high staff morale.
This is what a hospital does. It exists to look after the health of its patients and, where the staff is looked after, this will be easier to achieve. This is exactly what we patients expect when we present to hospitals and good management seeks to achieve this sweet-spot where respected workers administer excellent service.
It is, therefore, a shock to hear that the bonus of the Chief Executive of Crumlin Children’s Hospital is linked to the sales of Mars Bars, Crunchies and Twixes in the hospital shop.
Your small newsagent shop which is in the business of maximizing the sales of Mar Bars, Crunchies and Twixes might link a bonus of the person on the till, who is the point of contact between the consumer and the newsagent, to the sales of Mars Bars. But linking the bonus of the hospital boss, let’s call him Mr Mars Bar, to the sales of Mars Bars to sick kids and their concerned families, makes me feel sick. It is another example of the moral sleeveenism, which seems to infect so much that goes on at the highest levels of large parts of the public sector.
Don’t worry, this is not an anti-public sector article, but one that points out how shameful it is that grown adults – so called pillars of society – would extract money from the public purse in such a way. Take a bonus by all means (if you deserve it), but please don’t treat us, the people who pay your wages, with such disdain. Don’t dream up a little scam, linking the bonus of the chief executive to the sales of Mars Bars to kids who are ill. It’s too horrible.
If it is a smart stroke to get over government pay guidelines, which is what it looks like, consider for a second the moment these insiders stumbled across the grotesque gombeen idea of linking a bonus for Mr Mars Bar to the sales of sweets to hospital visitors? Can you imagine the self-satisfied nudges and winks as these insiders figured out another way to gouge the public purse and dress it up in the meritocratic language of the modern business-school?
Quite apart from being annoyed at this scam for people paid well over €100,000 by the rest of us, the bonus issue should force us to focus on the crucial question of whether bonuses actually work?
You will remember during the boom, bankers claimed that they had to have bonuses of a certain gargantuan quantum or they couldn’t do their jobs and would have to go to the competition. The other jobs they claimed were lined up ready with open wallets to take them were never specified, but remuneration committees (which they usually also sat on) rarely asked questions.
The central idea is that monetary bonuses enhance performance and that top jobs are so complex that the performance of the head buck cat is essential to the overall performance of the company. Whatever about the fact that it is deeply unfair for the chief executive to earn multiples of the average worker, many business colleges accept the notion that the boss should be paid such multiples. The logic seems to be that where motivation is suspect, money can cure it. So if the service isn’t working, pay the bosses more and they will work as hard as they can to make things better.
This sounds intuitively right, doesn’t it?
Experiments by behavioural economists spear-headed by Professor Dan Ariely recent star-performer at Kilkenomics, reveal that bonuses change behaviour but not in the ways we expect.
The behavioural economist carried out an experiment to see if people actually behave in the way we think they do – work better, smarter, harder when a big bonus is paid.
In the experiment people were asked to carry out all sorts of tasks demanding attention, memory, concentration and creativity. One third of the people were told they’d get a small bonus, one third a decent bonus and one third a huge bonus.
What would you expect? Obviously the people with the bigger bonus would work harder, wouldn’t they? That’s not what the researchers found. Oddly, the ones with the medium bonus performed no better or worse than the ones with the small bonus and, bizarrely, the ones with the biggest bonus performed worse. This might be because they thought they had earned enough and stopped. If you think this is strange, next time you have a chat with a taxi driver who says he is knocking off because he has earned enough that day, remember that people don’t always respond to the allure of more money by working more.
The psychologists repeated the study using another group but this time only gave two bonuses – one big and one small. They also divided the tasks into one demanding reasoning and cognitive skills, while the other was simply mechanical skills involving tapping a keyboard.
In general, they found that when it comes to mechanical skills, the bonus increased performance but for the harder stuff, the bonus had no effect.
Other researchers studying the impact of bonuses on individuals and teams highlighted the negative impact that high bonuses can have on those staff who don’t get a bonus – as you would expect.
One of the reasons bonuses fail is because bonuses tend to motivate people to specialize on areas where they can make money to the detriment of all others.
If you set up bonus structures to motivate people to focus on certain areas, they will focus on them, often to the detriment of other areas, including the morale of those around them. Think about the impact of setting up a bonus for the head of a hospital in order to evade government pay guidelines, and basing it on the sales of Mars Bars rather than patient outcomes.
As a taxpayer, if that doesn’t make you feel like a sucker taken for a ride by people who don’t understand the meaning of the expression “public service”, I don’t know what will.
David Mc Williams will host the Winter Tales Book Festival at Dalkey on December 7th. www.dalkeybookfestival.org
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A1 David The salary of hospital Masters is being topped up with private funding of which no-one seems to know the source and their pension contributions are being topped up with public funds. Yet no-one knows nothing. Omerta is at work. Hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil Bizarre is not the word for it and surely there is a lack of basic morality and common decency in all this don’t you think? Something is very very wrong here and you are right to feel sick at this state of affairs which would be funnier than The Ragged… Read more »
A great article .
I sometimes wonder how Irish Politics compares in behaviour science and where does the word ‘transparency’ show itself and in the said article what are the known knowns , the known unknowns and the unknown unknowns .After all if we knew everything the Taoiseach would know too .He said he didn’t .
How would you compare the hard graft efforts by sincere charity workers to raise funds for the hospital and just think how they would feel .
Was it declared for taxes before disclosure …tum di dum…makes an interesting story .
A1. I am clearly having an effect on you :)
Bonuses reinforces “winner take all” and insider/outsider barriers. Let’s start to realize that these guys are where they are courtesy of luck and the right contacts (crony/ nepo/mutual spooky soc etc). They are not special in any other way.
Mars bars? I love that association. It just points to the awful logic that we need to encourage more sickness to pay these f%%%ers. I bet they get free med care and meds as well out of the local pharmacy to counteract their lifestyle.
People want public services to be cheaper – they say they want to cut waste. A shop in a hospital makes money. Unlike the multitude of cost-centres in a hospital, the shop should actually make money for the hospital. So if everyone is harping on about reducing health spending and how debt is terrible and how we should get rid of waste – why not give the hospital boss an incentive to have the shop make more money? We want the public sector run like a business, don’t we? That’s the message I see all the time in the media… Read more »
Why is everybody so surprised?
For instance, our Presidents entourage of specialist advisors are paid above the salary cap. Where does this money come from?
The sense of entitlement ‘because we’re worth it’ disease that has gripped the country is endemic and not confined to hospitals!
“A Mars A Day Helps You Work, Rest And Play.” I thought that was an advert jingle and not a proven medical treatment for children. Shows you how much I know. Wow, so what are the medical benefits of Crunchies and Twixes? I’m guessing they’re somehow a treatment for Leukemia?
Yes, it’s another example of why we need a very large reset button. And here we are entering another cold spell. We’re all about to be screwed by the semi-states for having the audacity to heat our homes. Of course the energy costs have nothing to do do with their excessive pay, perks and pensions, no no no, it’s the price of oil. http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/revealed-a-startling-array-of-perks-on-offer-for-esb-staff-26767643.html http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/bord-gais-retirees-to-get-440000-package-despite-price-hikes-26764656.html Where is Ray Burke these days? http://www.shelltosea.com/content/gas-oil-robbery Ireland = Potato Republic run by “civil” service for the benefit of the civil service. These people are a-moral with a God complex and a as David points… Read more »
What I like about this article is that it presents a very tangible hold on the hypocrisy of the both our politics and our public services. General: Scam >>> Problems Created >>> stress/ weaken people >>> who must pay to fix >>> Scammer Payoff – REPEAT Specific: Example 1: Mars bar sales >>> Health Issues >>> weaken people >>> who must pay to fix >>> insiders get payoff Example 2: Excess Money supply >>> Inflation >>> people poorer>>> pay more for same rubbish >>> developers payoff Example 3: Keep Banks Viable >>> Huge Spend Cuts/Tax Hikes >>> people weakened >>>… Read more »
In defence of the Chief Executive, he personally manages the Sweet Shop on Monday and Wednesday mornings, his daughter runs it Tuesday and Thursday mornings and his wife does Friday and Saturday mornings, and a JobBridge intern does all the afternoons. They’re closed on Sundays because they’re a deeply religious family.
By the way, they’re opening a second Sweet Shop in Our Lady’s Hospice for the Dying and are planning to staff it with the terminally ill there funded by the government’s Activation Employment Training Program for Mature JobSeekers. They also won the contract to manage its car park.
“Let them eat Mars Bars”. The horrible truth is that some of these people – at least in their careers – are mainly motivated by money. When, as a child, I first saw the movie “The Third Man” starring Orson Welles, it left an indelible mark on me. I couldn’t get my little head around the notion of such cruel profiteering at the expense of people’s health. We need a few good men and women to consistently and loudly call out this type of parasitic behaviour and shout STOP before it gets out of hand. In my view, our democracy… Read more »
What do you expect – they simply want pay rates that are comparable to the highest in the international sphere and to live in this beautiful, low hassle, little country of ours. Wow !, it’s a dream come through for all those at the top of our public service. Solidarity with those other citizens who paid for your expensive education – that’s an outmoded concept in a global village – suckers! It’s extort what you can while you can. Pat Kenney, yesterday was justifying these excessive pay rates on the basis that our public services are not as good as… Read more »
We are being taken for fools all the time. The “insiders” keep taking advantage with their sense of entitlement as demonstrated by Mr Mars Bar. This story probably has only been made public because Mr Mars bar has annoyed someone closer to the inside. It will also act to distract the outsiders from some of the major issues that our government has not addressed. it is symbolic of the disconnect between the insiders and outsiders. We pay taxes and provide charitable donations to such hospitals where the CEO (and board/financial team) thinks it is ok skim profits from a shop.… Read more »
A Typhoon A couple Of Notch’s Higher Than What Hit Philippines Might Now Only Might Spur Change Here You Got Angles Naild Down Fred, -:)
Don’t always agree with you David, and I am not entirely sure I do about the bonus analysis – but I most certainly agree about how bloody dis-graceful this country is still tolerating underhand “money for the boys” The Professional classes in this country have screwed the system (barristers – accountants – medics etc) for an eternity; and there seems to be no-one prepared to take this on in Government circles. I thought it one of the conditions of our IMF Bailout that this was sorted. Any and all of which it is reprehensible that a handful of individuals are… Read more »
And this is why we need the govt. to get out of medicine and health care. They’re fucking crap at it. Look at the prices we pay for generic medicines. What is it? 2% less than wholesale? The HSE is a gigantic screw-up. I went to my doctor on Tuesday with (what seems to be) a neck problem. He said I need an MRI. Here’s how the conversation went. “Ok. Can you arrange that?” No problem, but you might want to go private, because It’ll be 2016 before they can do it”. “What the fuck” “Yeah. Try Euromedic. It’s about… Read more »
Hi Tony. I went to Euromedic for a specific scan from a specific diagnosis. It took them five attempts to capture it. My company health insurance covered it fully but they charged 5X200 = one grand.
If your diagnosis is vague be sure to clarify what exactly they are scanning for. Otherwise your repeated scanning will turn into an expensive scamming.
While this news is v.regrettable and the attitude and behaviour ought to be condemned ,it’s hardly scandalous! I don’t expect any tribunals to emerge from this any time soon yunno
What causes me to ’empty reach’ is discussing the tedium of “phone calls and footlockers”,all the while ,as the entire system implodes
(shake of head)
“ECB needs ‘safety margin’ against deflation” http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/economics/10466285/Mario-Draghi-ECB-needs-safety-margin-against-deflation.html Where is the People’s safety margin ,as the limbo dancing continues to below zero % ———————————————————————– reminds me,for some bizzare reason, to think of The Irish Land Commission back in late 19th Century [ as we know it was an ‘organisation’ that re-shuffled the farm land ] So if a farmer had 4 plots of 5 acres (let’s just say) in a townland ,but not all plots,if any,were on-bounds with each other ,it would be ‘arranged’ by the commission to parcel one 20 acre farm all together ,rather than having it all disjointed… Read more »
That is why the Germans are so successful, i.e. they do not even have minimum wage as performance incentive. The German fat cats know from their own fat cat lifestyle that if they give the peasant cat to much cream it becomes lazy, smug, superior, arrogant, conceited, haughty and complacent. You cannot allow the slave to become complacent; you must pay them less to incentivise them. The slaves believe that if they work hard or work for nothing (interns) they will be rewarded – The peasants can taste the cream but they must not be allowed to swallow! Big JIM… Read more »
Corruption is endemic around the world and not confined to a particular country.
It is induced to create mayhem. Then the solutions are provided to restore sanity. but it invariably involves more regulation, more control, less freedom.
It is the master plan for one world government.
Right here is the history of the controllers
http://humansarefree.com/2011/09/history-of-house-of-rothschild-complete.html#
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-25037082
It’s only at report stage ,but the “Parliamentary Commission on Banking who sit in the Lords have the clout to amend the Banking Reform bill in line with their recommendations, and this IS their moment.
“The commission wanted much tougher proposals than the government; they wanted not just a clear separation between the retail and investment arms of banks, but also the “electrification,” of this barrier, in the form of powers for the regulators to step in if they felt that a bank was “gaming the system”.
nite all
JFK in Dublin 1963
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8EuGsu_Y0YA
If he could see us now
Tony’s “sound money” approach , that I have read at length, appears very sound indeed! And yes, the FIAT currencies we have now is a lesson, that was learned the harrrd way ,and there is much much need for change there and I would happily elect you Tony to a Gov’t advisory council to work through such an issue! But that’s only the money issue.. Money is NOT an economic driving force, but a means of wealth exchange and a mere single component of a FUNCTIONING ECONOMY. So, you’ve “impeccable logic ,but money is an absurd axiom”. When one runs… Read more »
an advisory council is unnecessary. the truth is self evident. sound money is as you say a medium of exchange, and a store of wealth and other properties such as being immutable, divisible and fungible etc. The problem with out current fiat system is. It is a debt based currency. GET IT YET. It enslaves everyone. Not all money is equal. We arte tied to the worst of money and you want to ignore this problem or through platitudes at it. THE FUCKING MONEY SYSTEM MUST BE FIXED OR ALL ELSE IS FUTILE. EXAMINE THE MONEY SYSTEM. Read the creature… Read more »
in the meantime the medical system can not be afforded as the economy is hollowed out by the fiat debt based money system and the peoples resources are channeled to more debt payments, interest payments and increased taxes.
fix the money system or the rest of society decays.
There are many different forms of motivation David. Today I heard about a family with three boys who were all born with a gene defect that is incurable and means they will all probably die in their teens or early twenties. The family will need money and lots of it over the next few years for medical treatment and I am wondering if there is anything we can do to raise awareness. I will offer my skills and talk to the person who know knows the family about setting up a campaign website to collect donations. Would some of you… Read more »
C. S. Lewis died 22nd Nov 1963 as did lot’s other people . I wonder how much the mars bar seller gets paid in crumlin hosp – 8.65ph an incentive to be exploited on many levels. I don’t expect the mars seller has a medical plan
DDI anyone. Vote out the bonuses
http://www.aangirfan.blogspot.ca/2013/11/swiss-to-vote-on-top-peoples-pay.html
I think you meant Mars Bars, Crunchie’s and Twix. Not “Twixes” Thats like saying I “texted” him. You should say I sent him a text or I sent her a text message, not I “texted her” Your small newsagent shop which is in the business of maximising sales of Mars bars, Crunchies and Twix…. and of course saying “you ok” instead of may I help you or what can I get for you, no, they say “you ok”? Then when yhou say thank you they say “no bother” or “no problem”. Whatever happend to youre welcome? So I walk away… Read more »
Aurophobia Seems a number of people on this blog suffer from the above. you will recognize your symptoms but there is a cure. Rational analysis of your problem will dispel the problem. * Gold phobia Auro-phobia is often confused with aero-phobia due to spellings, but they are entirely two different phobias. Symptoms of Aurophobia The most common symptoms of aurophobia (fear of gold) are the feelings of panic, terror, anxiety, tension, and dread. Amongst the physical symptoms are sweating, rapid heartbeat, and trembling. Whilst, other milder cases or manifestations of aurophobia in a person can cause sweaty palms, being jumpy,… Read more »
Foolish comments.
As I said above,Joe, read The Creature from Jekyll Island before you next comment as by then you may have some understanding of what I am discussing.
At least I sleep well. You are on night shift which is a total disorientation
The banking industry is a crime against the person, as is the rape of money which was allocated for the health of a nations children and adults, these things are not exclusive of one another, they are one same – a crime against the person. People died and are suffering now, this is a result the lawlessness within the money system, it is not because of gold/money or paper/money but because humans are human, and humans need to police their nature. If we can police the roads with something as simple as yellow line, why can we not police money,… Read more »
They say there is a long cultural memory of the Pest, Plague. And certain things evoke alarm. There is also a long memory of Famine, Depressions, and again certain events evoke alarm. We have the W.H.O now to watch for signs of pandemics, and prevention. We have no such “body” watching for the lethal signs of Depression, dep-population, all polite words for genocide. These indications must be looked for and made public from numerous reports. The only reason to brush a pandemic or depression under the carpet is willful population reduction. Bertrand Russell bemoaned the lack of a Black Death… Read more »
Not sure what DMcW is trying to say. His idol Mr. Ariely belongs to the troupe around Obama who organized Obamacare, the current disaster. Obamacare is applied behavioral economics from Peter Orzag and Ezekiel Emanuel – known as Ez-kill Emanuel.
Degenerates Surround A Nero-Like President; Who Controls Them?
“Note by the way, that this Ariely, another Israeli emigre, has made himself a “pain and pleasure suit, to measure how we combine pain (caused by extreme hot or cold temperature) in one part of our body, and pleasure in another…”.
Jeremy Bentham’s Hedonistic Calculus with a nudge and a wink.
“Not sure what DMcW is trying to say.”
Not sure what BonBon is trying to say.
What To Quilt On Your Quilt
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=emNxOb-oQfM
Strange the “libertarians” here never mention the economy. Freedom from even the hint of an economy? That is no freedom at all. Freedom from hunger, want, ignorance, and a job that pays a decent living : Whatever Happened to Franklin Roosevelt’s “Freedom from Want”? FDR’s commissioned Painting FDR’s “Four Freedoms” Speech: Freedom by the Fireside FDR’s Four Freedoms : “In the future days, which we seek to make secure, we look forward to a world founded upon four essential human freedoms. The first is freedom of speech and expression — everywhere in the world. The second is freedom of every… Read more »
JFK on economics 6 speeches. The amnesia must be lifted after the shock of 1963.
Well today’s match against New Zealand was a display of “life’s a game of inches”
Ireland’s performance was magnificent!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oSDhhZtRwFU
It’s a bit odd that DMcW mentions Healthcare but can only spot mars-bars.
Evidence-Based Medicine: Treating by Chance, Cathy M. Helgason, M.D.
Behavioral “medicine” tries to eliminate the thinking process. Hospital administrators are bonus’d to treat patients by chance, statistics.
The evidence is clear, and the arguments also, for the dock.
It is a good thing that David McWilliams has started to notice that human behaviour is the main reason we are where we are.
In the last few months he has started talking about the irrational behaviour of the human condition the next phase will hopefully address possible ways to control it – policing the human condition.
The whole Marsgate episode did give me a good laugh, listening to Brendan Howlin (Wolf) wringing his hands and saying things like “We need to have transparency…” etc. He was using “We” as in “the people” as if he was merely a normal punter and not one of the few people who could actually do something about this. What a plonker. By the way, this blog is getting increasingly crazy, it’s really getting to be a bit of a madhouse. The subject in hand is dropped after a few posts and the usual suspects post the usual nonsense. There clearly… Read more »
Says I must send a report if I wish to receive emails.
So, “Reporting for duty—-Sir”