ritically important to take the next step: it’s now time for managers to spend some quality time with each employee discussing ways to produce the desired outcome.

For example, one of my clients designed an incentive plan that rewarded salespeople for improving gross margin. What the manager forgot to do was to coach the salespeople on how to deal with pricing objections, sell related items or “sell up.” (Of course, my Gross Margin book was writ

Productivity is the key to just about everything when it comes to making a satisfactory profit in today’s business environment.

Years ago, incentive programs became especially popular as a technique to help employees think like managers. Incentives were originally designed to exploit the “what’s in it for me” mindset many of us were born with. Immediately following the installation of an incentive plan, however, many managers make the mistake of believing that they no longer have to manage.

This is a huge mistake! Incentive plans are no substitute for established management techniques. But when incentive programs are combined with quality management activities, organizational productivity almost always rises.

The most frequently occurring productivity problem I observe on consulting assignments is that many employees don’t have a clear cut feel for how their jobs are measured. There are two key reasons:

1. Management has never sat down with their employees and explained how their respective jobs are measured. Or,

2. Management has never taken the time to determine the best ways to measure each job in the company.

Whichever the case, if employees don’t understand specifically what is expected of them in measurable terms, productivity frequently suffers.

I have found that preparing a position specification is an invaluable tool that helps alleviate both of these situations. The position spec clearly outlines the parameters of the job, what results are expected, how the job is measured and what behavioral style management believes will perform the job most effectively.

(To receive a FREE sample of a position specification, send an email to Bill@BillLeeOnLine.com)

After employees have a good understanding of how their jobs are measured, it’s critically important to take the next step: it’s now time for managers to spend some quality time with each employee discussing ways to produce the desired outcome.

For example, one of my clients designed an incentive plan that rewarded salespeople for improving gross margin. What the manager forgot to do was to coach the salespeople on how to deal with pricing objections, sell related items or “sell up.” (Of course, my Gross Margin book was writt

believing that they no longer have to manage.

This is a huge mistake! Incentive plans are no substitute for established management techniques. But when incentive programs are combined with quality management activities, organizational productivity almost always rises.

The most frequently occurring productivity problem I observe on consulting assignments is that many employees don’t have a clear cut feel for how their jobs are measured. There are two key reasons:

1. Management has never sat down with their employees and explained how their respective jobs are measured. Or,

2. Management has never taken the time to determine the best ways to measure each job in the company.

Whichever the case, if employees don’t understand specifically what is expected of them in measurable terms, productivity frequently suffers.

I have found that preparing a position specification is an invaluable tool that helps alleviate both of these situations. The position spec clearly outlines the parameters of the job, what results are expected, how the job is measured and what behavioral style management believes will perform the job most effectively.

(To receive a FREE sample of a position specification, send an email to Bill@BillLeeOnLine.com)

After employees have a good understanding of how their jobs are measured, it’s critically important to take the next step: it’s now time for managers to spend some quality time with each employee discussing ways to produce the desired outcome.

For example, one of my clients designed an incentive plan that rewarded salespeople for improving gross margin. What the manager forgot to do was to coach the salespeople on how to deal with pricing objections, sell related items or “sell up.” (Of course, my Gross Margin book was writ

ere are two key reasons:

1. Management has never sat down with their employees and explained how their respective jobs are measured. Or,

2. Management has never taken the time to determine the best ways to measure each job in the company.

Whichever the case, if employees don’t understand specifically what is expected of them in measurable terms, productivity frequently suffers.

I have found that preparing a position specification is an invaluable tool that helps alleviate both of these situations. The position spec clearly outlines the parameters of the job, what results are expected, how the job is measured and what behavioral style management believes will perform the job most effectively.

(To receive a FREE sample of a position specification, send an email to Bill@BillLeeOnLine.com)

After employees have a good understanding of how their jobs are measured, it’s critically important to take the next step: it’s now time for managers to spend some quality time with each employee discussing ways to produce the desired outcome.

For example, one of my clients designed an incentive plan that rewarded salespeople for improving gross margin. What the manager forgot to do was to coach the salespeople on how to deal with pricing objections, sell related items or “sell up.” (Of course, my Gross Margin book was writ

on is an invaluable tool that helps alleviate both of these situations. The position spec clearly outlines the parameters of the job, what results are expected, how the job is measured and what behavioral style management believes will perform the job most effectively.

(To receive a FREE sample of a position specification, send an email to Bill@BillLeeOnLine.com)

After employees have a good understanding of how their jobs are measured, it’s critically important to take the next step: it’s now time for managers to spend some quality time with each employee discussing ways to produce the desired outcome.

For example, one of my clients designed an incentive plan that rewarded salespeople for improving gross margin. What the manager forgot to do was to coach the salespeople on how to deal with pricing objections, sell related items or “sell up.” (Of course, my Gross Margin book was writ

ritically important to take the next step: it’s now time for managers to spend some quality time with each employee discussing ways to produce the desired outcome.

For example, one of my clients designed an incentive plan that rewarded salespeople for improving gross margin. What the manager forgot to do was to coach the salespeople on how to deal with pricing objections, sell related items or “sell up.” (Of course, my Gross Margin book was written specifically for this purpose. To order your copy, see Shopping Cart at www.BillLeeOnLine.com)

Another client offered to pay an incentive if safety goals were achieved, but failed to educate the organization on techniques to reduce accidents and injuries.

Another client offered to pay an incentive to employees who made suggestions for cost-cutting, but stopped short when no informal idea-sharing sessions were organized to give employees an opportunity to brainstorm ideas among themselves.

Most employees work hard now, so work ethic is not always the issue. The problem usually lies in a lack of understanding of specifically what to do differently to achieve more desirable results.

Try this: Whether you are launching a new incentive program or you have an existing incentive program that has been in place for a while, call a meeting for the specific purpose of discussing obstacles your people are encountering and brainstorm solutions to those obstacles. Then a couple of weeks later, call another meeting to discuss how the solutions are working and if necessary tweak them.

Based on my experience, these additional steps will greatly improve the odds that your incentive compensation program will be a success.