Can staff incentive schemes balance social and financial goals?
Only a few organizations have designed special incentives to balance social and financial goals. Incentives work best when applied to loan officers who have little influence over that balance. The products they manage and geographic areas to which they are assigned generally determine the degree to which they are able to reach poor customers. However, pioneers such as PRIZMA in Bosnia and Herzegovina explicitly use achievements in social goals to determine staff bonuses. When are staff incentives not the right management tool? Approximately 1/4 of the participating MFIs in both surveys reported they dont use any incentive schemes – mainly due to financial cost and lack of technical knowledge. Less cited reasons include legal issues and the perception that employees are already highly motivated. Around 75% of the MFIs not yet using SIS intend to in the near future.
