You Can’t Incentivize Your Way Out of a Process Problem
Bonuses. Commissions. Profit shares. Extra PTO. More flexibility.
Law firm owners are often quick to roll out incentives when performance stalls. The thinking? If we sweeten the pot, people will step up.
But here’s the truth:
You can’t incentivize your way out of a process problem.
Incentives Work—Until They Don’t
Sure, a bonus structure might get people moving in the short term. But it won’t fix:
Unclear roles and responsibilities
Inefficient workflows
Bottlenecks caused by leadership indecision
Poor delegation
Lack of accountability systems
In fact, offering bonuses on top of dysfunction often creates more confusion and frustration.
The Real Issue Isn’t Motivation—It’s Clarity
With the right team, most underperformance is not due to laziness. It’s due to:
People not knowing what’s expected
No metrics to track progress
Inconsistent follow-through
Tools and systems that don’t support the team
This isn’t a “try harder” problem. It’s a leadership and operations problem.
What Happens When You Incentivize Chaos
Let’s say you add a 10% commission for intake conversion.
But:
No one’s trained on proper intake scripts
The CRM isn’t tracking lead stages properly
There’s no clear follow-up process
You haven’t solved the problem. You’ve just put a reward on an unclear task.
That breeds resentment and finger-pointing instead of results.
Performance Starts with Process
If you want your team to perform, you need to:
Define roles clearly
Set expectations and KPIs
Create workflows that make execution easier
Provide training and resources
Lead with consistency
Then—and only then—should you layer on incentives.
This Is COO Work, Not HR Work
Too often, firm owners try to fix problems with culture, HR, or perks. But what they really need is operational clarity.
A fractional COO can:
Audit your systems
Clarify team roles
Build performance management systems
Help you lead with structure, not guesswork
You don’t need a fancier bonus plan. You need a functional business.
If performance is stalling, don’t throw money at the symptoms. Let’s fix the foundation and build a system your team can actually succeed in.