Hi there! My name is Sina. Among other things, my mission is to make Blinkist the best place to work in Berlin. Tasked with reviewing our incentive strategy, I realized something: we were doing it wrong—and everybody else is, too.
In many industries it’s common practice to award employees a contractual bonus in the form of an annual one-time payment, tethered to company KPIs. It’s actually so commonplace that many founders introduce these same old corporate procedures in their otherwise modern and progressive ventures.
Unfortunately, what’s good for the goose isn’t always good for the gander. Oldschool incentives in a 21st-century business create an ideological discord that negatively impacts individuals and overall company culture. So what seems like a well-meant motivating measure is actually an expensive misunderstanding that hurts startups and other developing, aspiring companies.
