According to a new study, financial incentives can help employees achieve more, but only up to a certain point. Once a certain threshold is met, the study found that people begin to respond differently. The study found that people responded to incentives at the beginning, but grew distracted as they continued the task. The study found that the peak performance was somewhere between $0 and $100 in rewards.
See "Big Incentives Can Hinder, Rather Than Help", Melissa Korn, The Wall Street Journal, May 15, 2012