People tend to repeat those behaviors for which they get rewarded, and display other behaviors more randomly. If the boss doesn't remark when subordinates do good work, but is clearly pleased whenever subordinates show up early, look busy,and stay late, it is more likely that people will put in long hours not working very effectively. As your people find your compensation program less rewarding, they are less likely to do what you expect. If your overall incentive structure, monetary and non-monetary, rewards people equally for meeting tough challenges or for shifting problems to others or for jumping ship, they are just as likely to avoid or walk away from or whine about problems as to stick with problems until they're solved. What's Measured Gets Managed.
Energy follows attention.
Thus, where you put peoples' attention is where their work effort will be most highly expended. An important corrolary is that what's more easily measureable is more likely to get managed. In short, attention tends to drift away from vague problems that one is not sure how to handle, and toward more concrete problems at which one knows how to succeed. For example, employees' work habits are much easier to measure and to discipline than the quality of their work. As a result, managers often resort to measuring and managing work habits instead of work quality.