Rewards, and the question of intrinsic & extrinsic motivations...

Two more quirky signboards spotted...

... at the newly opened Junction 10 mall (the old Ten Mile Junction mall) today:

Cafe with a kick! Will that happen if you don't leave a tip??

And as if "wanton" mee noodles weren't tittilating enough for otherwise jaded foodies, along comes "Porn's SEXY.THAI.FOOD"...

 
This eatery has not yet opened for business, though. I am sure there will be people waiting with bated (panting, even) breath for its shutters to roll up.

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Yesterday in Parliament, DPM Teo Chee Hean laid out the PAP government's case for accepting the Gerard Ee panel's recommendations for political salary revisions, and he also emphasised that the fundamentals have not changed, ie, this country still needs all the highly motivated public-spirited AND talented people it can find to run the political ship of Singapore.

Today, PM Lee amplified on these points, adding that the question of political salaries has been on his mind ever since he joined the Cabinet. He said that he has been fortunate to have assembled a core senior team he can rely on. He did say too that ministers who do not perform as expected can expect to be eased out.

For the PAP, the modalities may be tweaked but the benchmark is still top earners' remunerations in the private sector. For the Workers' Party, the benchmark is the common allowance paid to elected MPs. The arguments of both sides have merit but it is the PAP that has the mandate to rule. So if the WP wants to put in place its model, then it has to win power. That's the way it is.

All things considered, given that there is a promised review of the salary revisions, then we have these five years to assess and see how the Gerard Ee panel's reforms pan out.

The intriguing question still, for me, is how to keep at a high level the intrinsic motivations of a person in a job such as a political ministerial position's, throughout the incumbent's tenure. Studies -- albeit not from political cases -- offer only a glimpse. I thought this article, "The Power of Intrinsic Rewards: The strongest motivators come from inside a person," by Babak Armajani, offers useful insights. Here's the link:

http://www.governing.com/columns/mgmt-insights/The-Power-of-Intrinsic.html