Humans Shrunk 100 Times - Chapter 209: Incentives

“At the same time, I’m also worried that as the number of people increases, they may become less willing to share and communicate, which obviously hinders the growth of abilities.”

Dong Junwei’s considerations were mostly based on the overall situation and the interests of all members.

For example, on this point, she didn’t want to force others to reveal their privacy, but she hoped everyone would share information.

“We don’t have this problem now. All of our abilities are basically developed and grown under Tang Jing’s guidance.”

“That’s true, but who knows what will happen in the future? After all, Tang Jing is only one person. When we reach the level of the Green Stele, how can she handle all of it?”

“Are we thinking too far ahead?”

“People without foresight will encounter immediate worries.”

“I have an idea,” Dong Junwei suddenly interrupted the discussion.

“What idea?”

“Many people will indeed have reservations. Even if we don’t mention saving our strength or hiding our trump cards, making our abilities public will only result in the organization assigning more tasks to them. It’s a bit unfair before there are more rewards.”

“So, I think we could establish an incentive mechanism.”

“Incentive mechanism?”

Upon hearing this, Chen Mu suddenly thought of how Chang Junyan had informed him about his ability breakthrough, which led to him being assigned to the field team.

In retrospect, there was indeed a sense of falling into a trap.

Of course, at present, everyone was as close as family, and they wouldn’t really care about these things. But as Dong Junwei said, things wouldn’t remain the same when more people join in the future.

By then, even if Chang Junyan himself was willing to share his ability progress, Chen Mu would advise him to keep some reservations.

This was the difference between a large enterprise and a small company.

The latter could rely on the leader’s personal ability to unite and rally the employees, but the former must rely on rules and systems.

“That’s right,” Dong Junwei nodded. “We will never force members to share the details of their abilities, but for those who are willing to do so, I believe there should be some rewards.”

“But, what do we have to reward everyone now?” Chen Mu asked.

Dong Junwei said, “In theory, all aspects of life that we need can be part of the reward, such as the food we eat now.”

“Using that as a reward doesn’t sound good,” Chen Mu said.

“That’s just an example.”

Dong Junwei smiled and said, “In fact, it’s not just the sharing of abilities. I think we should calculate and give appropriate rewards and incentives for our contributions and actions in all aspects.”

“What do you mean specifically?” He Ying asked curiously.

“Well, to put it simply, you can think of these rewards as currency.”

“Currency?”

“That’s right. When you work, you naturally receive wages, which are rewards.”

Dong Junwei began to explain, “Every person in society is contributing and receiving. When you work, you contribute, and after receiving wages, you use them to buy food and entertainment, which is receiving.”

“Similarly, within an organization, like us now, everyone is contributing to the construction of Qiming. At the same time, everyone is also enjoying the benefits brought about by the organization’s development.”

“But, obviously, everyone’s contributions and receivings are different.”

“For example, Chen Mu. He almost takes on all the tasks of obtaining food, construction, and fighting. Although he also enjoys Du Jiajia’s cooking and the convenience brought by others tidying up the rooms and cleaning, the two are obviously not equivalent. In simple terms, Chen Mu’s contribution far outweighs his receiving, and to some extent, others are taking advantage of his efforts.”

“Now, we have fewer people, so maybe we won’t worry about these issues, but it’s definitely not a long-term solution.”

“What should we do then?” He Ying was quite interested in this.

“It’s simple: ‘To each according to his ability.’ The more one works, the more one gets.”

Dong Junwei continued, “We can establish a points system or issue some form of currency. First, the organization will guarantee everyone’s basic survival requirements. For example, even if someone does nothing, they will still receive a monthly allocation of points, but these points will only be enough for their basic food needs. To get more points, they must participate in construction and work. The more important and difficult the work is, and the more work they undertake, the more points they will naturally earn.”

“In addition to that, as I mentioned earlier, sharing one’s ability progress can also earn points rewards.”

“Of course, the specific amount of rewards will require more precise evaluation, which, for now, can only be done by Tang Jing.”

After saying this, Dong Junwei looked towards Tang Jing.

Tang Jing remained silent throughout Dong Junwei’s proposal until now when she finally spoke, “I agree with the squad leader’s proposal.”

With this statement, as long as Chen Mu didn’t object, the matter was essentially settled. And since Chen Mu was the biggest beneficiary of this proposal, he had no reason to oppose it. Besides, for Qiming to continue and grow, such regulations were necessary.

“But the biggest issue is, how do we judge what kind of work should receive what level of reward?” Chen Mu said.

Tang Jing replied, “Absolute fairness doesn’t exist, and even when this collective becomes large enough—like a society—it becomes impossible and unnecessary to specify things to that degree.”

“In general, the principle of a market economy is to set a clear price. When the reward for a certain job is too low, naturally fewer people will do it. And when the number of people doing it is too low, there will be a forced increase in the reward until a balance is achieved. Of course, the overall market condition of a society would never be this idealized model; humans live in a state of transition from one condition to another, which is why centralized macro-control is needed. However, for now, we don’t need to consider these things.”

Though Tang Jing’s words were somewhat complex, the general meaning was clear to everyone.

An Ruosu sighed, “If the Green Stele had thought so far ahead back then, it wouldn’t be in the current situation.”

Dong Junwei nodded, “The Green Stele’s strategic tactics were not wrong. At this stage, combat-capable individuals are more important, and giving them better treatment is reasonable. But the problem is that while it wants to use certain rules to constrain the lower-level individuals, it doesn’t provide them with a clear system of rewards and punishments. It only statically assigns levels to people without giving them channels for advancement. Even if they work harder and want to earn more food, they can’t. This lack of hope will naturally decrease their motivation to work.”

“This is something that Qiming needs to avoid at all costs; otherwise, in the future, we would just become another Green Stele. In my ideal Qiming, even those without special abilities could obtain relatively generous living conditions by working hard at ordinary tasks.”

Dong Junwei seemed to have given this issue a lot of thought, and she talked extensively about it. Finally, she said, “Of course, achieving all this will probably require a long period of research and exploration.”

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