John Morris on employee motivation
From Why Employees Stop Caring — And How Incentives Fix It | Workforce Skills Ep. 116 · · Workforce Skills with John Morris
“I think as a salaried employee, you look at what you're doing and you become complacent. You get maybe lackadaisical. Maybe you just you're set in your ways and it's like, well, I make this paycheck, why should I do more?”
On , John Morris, President & COO at Waste Management, Inc, spoke about employee motivation during Why Employees Stop Caring — And How Incentives Fix It | Workforce Skills Ep. 116 on Workforce Skills with John Morris.
About John Morris
In a May 2026 episode of the Workforce Skills Podcast, John Morris discussed the use of incentive-based systems and key performance indicators to address employee complacency and improve productivity. Morris described implementing team-based bonus structures in his estimating department, including a $3,000 monthly bonus for the entire department with $500 deductions for each estimator who fails to meet targets. He also outlined a system where $10 is deducted from a bonus pool for each instance of speeding detected at 12 miles per hour over the limit. Morris cited a recent example of over 100 gallons of paint returned from a single job, costing $3,500, as an instance of waste that such systems aim to reduce. Morris characterized some business owners as "stupid" for not adopting incentive-based approaches and encouraged salaried employees to ask their employers, "If I double the amount of work I'm bringing in, is there anything extra for me?" He argued that investing in employee incentives yields a greater return than spending on advertising, and that such systems foster peer accountability among team members. Morris stated that the goal is to increase productivity, reduce waste, improve safety, and grow profitability.