For two decades I designed compensation and performance management systems for large and medium companies. I always had this nagging thought that after two … Read more
Management Lessons Learned On a Driving Range
Note: The following excerpt about celebrating wins is from the book Balanced Accountability: Three Leadership Secrets to Win Hearts and Maximize … Read more
Do You Really Need All Those Incentive Plans?
It’s a fact. Left on their own, with no boundaries or constraints, incentive plans will often multiply like rabbits. I once spoke with a … Read more
Study Finds Dynamic Rewards Trending and Non-Cash Awards are More Appreciated
Employee recognition and rewards have come a long way even in just the last 10 years. In a new Voice of the Market study by the Incentive Research … Read more
The Problem With Incentive Plan Cliffs
Triggers and hurdles and cliffs, oh my! To be clear, I’m talking about pay plan mechanics and in particular about the kind of cliff that plays an … Read more
Don’t Wait For December, Pay Bonuses Year Round
If you’re like most companies, you probably already give annual bonuses to thank and reward people for their work throughout the year. Except, there’s a … Read more
Help Your Employees to Have a ‘Line of Sight’ to Goals
Incentives remain one of the most powerful, and yet also one of the most misapplied, management tools out there. While research has shown that group … Read more
When Money Isn’t Enough: 4 Drivers of Motivation
Most existing recognition and incentive programs have been designed utilizing traditional economic theories which suggest: People tend to act rationally … Read more
Variable Pay Is Becoming More Common and More Frequent
A rich compensation mix encompasses much more than base pay alone, there are bonuses, incentives, benefits and much more to consider. Together, all these … Read more
How To Use Cohort Analysis for Better Workforce Decisions
Talking compensation and promotions with your employees can be a tricky business, yet many managers make these costly (and sometimes time-sensitive) people … Read more
Rewards Can Help Close the Strategy-to-Performance Gap
I like to argue that we should be holding our compensation programs – and the money they represent – to a higher standard. Research examining … Read more
3 Ways to Make Your Recruiting Efforts Stand Out
The US labor market is tightening. Job openings are at a record high, and there is uncertainty over whether there will be enough skilled workers to fill … Read more
What We Can Do to Improve Performance Measurement and Rewards
When it comes to evolving performance management and pay for performance, it has definitely been a long haul. For the past few years, performance has been … Read more
The Case For Scrapping Your Long Term Incentives
If you’re like most companies, you provide stock options, restricted stock grants, and other long-term-incentives to your senior executives. But do … Read more
How To Plan for Compensating Tomorrow’s Workforce
The Terminator had a big impact on my understanding of the future. In the Terminator franchise, machines become so artificially intelligent that Skynet … Read more
When ‘Please’ and ‘Thank You’ Aren’t Enough
Saying “please” and “thank you” is one of the most fundamental communication strategies we use to project our own intentions and gauge the intentions of … Read more
Rewarding People For Results Is a Mistake
Beware of people who say things like, “I’m the sort of person who likes to get things done.” They almost always make this remark when trying to impress an … Read more
Are Pay Boundaries Empowering or Demotivating?
One of the challenges in compensation design and management is building programs that reward workers fairly, competitively and in ways that engage them in … Read more
Money Won’t Buy Engagement, But Here’s What Will
Like most companies at the end of the year your organization announced salary changes, issuing merit raises to some, and generally recalculated overall … Read more
5 Ways Compensation Will Change in 2017
As the economy continued to rebound in 2016, there was intense competition in many talent markets across a number of jobs and industries. All indicators … Read more