Raises *do* matter
At the risk of sounding like a peevish author picking nits from the tangled hair of quickly forgotten reviews, let me do precisely that. Drive never says that raises aren’t worthwhile. Far from it.
Yes, raises in the form of “If-then” rewards — “If you do something great, then you’ll get a raise” — can be dangerous. But in general, I advocate (and the science affirms) paying people well.
For instance, page 79 says that if an organization doesn’t pay someone “an adequate amount, or if her pay isn’t equitable compared to others doing similar work—that person’s motivation will crater.”
Page 172 says: “Providing an employee a high level of base pay does more to boost performance and organizational commitment than an attractive bonus structure.”
The bottom line, from page 170: “The best use of money is to take the issue of money off the table . . . Effective organizations compensate people in amounts and in ways that allow individuals to mostly forget about compensation and instead focus on the work itself.”