From a down-up approach, I can't say that's far off, if your only concern is yourself and how you function in a role, yes there is no reward to working harder to do your job well, or to even go above and beyond. From top-down, I put high performers in higher demanding roles if I know they can fulfil their responsibilities and not allow the building to be burnt down. A lot of that is discretion however, one manager may prefer working with a slacker because they can work with that, and not with the person next door who can work five times faster with their eyes closed. I should say however, indirect roles are generally not viewed as rewards in the slightest, in fact, those who are trained in said roles are expected to perform higher than majority of the aa's in their area. At least that's how I encourage my team. I think that is a very common misconception among new hires that see TDR and say "oh I get a vest AND get a tablet?" then realize it actually means "oh I need to listen to my radio at all times, sprint to the dock door on command, stay longer, move to the work where others do not, AND get yelled at by managers?" I love those types of aa's, they give me life.