MR GILBERT Goh has conveyed very eloquently the dangers of performance-linked pay for teachers in his letter, 'Performance-linked pay more harm than good' (ST, Jan 1).

I would like to carry his argument a step further.

Public service is distinct from private enterprise. This distinction is essential if we are to be clear about what salary incentives serve to achieve in motivating the right behaviours in either sector.

Public service requires a different aptitude, ethos and capacity, and emphasises empathy, altruism, selflessness and a strong sense of purpose in contributing to the community. It carries with it a heavy emotional investment, often difficult to quantify in monetary terms. The strongest motivation for such an endeavour would be to affect positively the next generation by being role models, and to improve significantly the condition of others, or society as a whole.

Public service includes the sectors of education, health care, social services and the civil service. Monetary rewards rank (or should rank) low, and often departures from public service have more to do with disenfranchisement, disillusionment and low trust environments, where individual contributions are not valued or individuals do not feel invested in the overall direction or purpose of the organisation.

In other words, poor motivation and poor work dynamics, distinct from pay, may be a more critical root cause to address.

In the private sector, a completely different set of circumstances is at play. In a free market economy, competitive salaries and performance-linked bonuses rank high in the decision-making process of job selection, and in motivating profitable behaviours.

An overemphasis on salary incentives to attract or retain talent in public service may, in the long run, be detrimental to motivating the right behaviours, or worse, attracting people not suited for public service.

Motivational writer Stephen Covey said: 'Principles are the simplicity at the far end of complexity.' Let us not miss the forest for the trees.

Clarity of purpose, individual investment in a shared common vision, a vibrant work environment and enlightened leadership that respects (and celebrates) diversity of opinion will provide more than ample motivation for the right-minded people to stay.

Dr Ranjiv Sivanandan

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