Branch managers' results really depended on how well their employces perform, and so did the results of nearly everyone else except those in sales(and even there a team effort can make a difference). Yet instead of teamwork, the bank's practices encouraged competition, the hoarding of good leads, and the withholding of good ideas until one person could claim the credit. "We talk about teamwork at training sessions," this executive said, "and then we destroy it in the compensation system."
Team-based pay raises its own questions, however, and generates its own set of prickly issues. There is the"free rider" problem, in which a few nonperforming members of the group benefit from the actions of the productive members. And problems can arise when people resent being dependent on team members, especially those with very different organizational status.