Rewards That Drive High Performance

Success Stories From Leading Organizations

AMACOM, 1999

15 min read

10 take-aways

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What's inside?

Don’t give Christmas turkeys to vegetarians! For more advice on employee incentives, read on.

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Editorial Rating

Qualities

Innovative
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Recommendation

Tom Wilson’s premise: Employee incentives are just as important to corporations as they are to employees. Why? Because a company that aligns its own achievement with that of its employees is well on its way to success. Wilson uses a wide range of case studies to bolster his common- sense advice, including reminders that your employee rewards plan should be simple to understand, geared toward the kind of people you want to attract and should frequently vary. Even the most experienced manager can stand to learn a thing or two from Wilson’s keen analysis of Amazon.com, Southwest Airlines, Saturn, and a host of other successful businesses. getAbstract.com thinks that you owe it to yourself - and to your employees - to read this well-crafted book.

Summary

General Patton Must Rise Again

If you have survived the past decade of corporate struggle you may feel like General George Patton looking over a carnage-strewn battlefield replete with burned-out turrets, overturned jeeps, and plumes of smoke that console the dead with their caresses. The battles of reengineering, restructuring, consolidation, outsourcing, globalization and downsizing have trimmed the ranks of the business gladiators. Today, both the wizened survivors and their reinforcements face a new challenge. In order to spur people to greater efforts and achievement, business leaders must align the goals of their employees with the goals of their organizations. This alignment process begins with the proper compensation structure.

Think Link

To develop an effective reward strategy for your organization, you must build a link between performance requirements and compensation. What results do you want your company to attain? Which activities or behaviors do you want to encourage? How can you translate those behaviors into results that can be measured? These are the technical questions, and they are crucial, but you also have to keep in mind that you are...

About the Author

Thomas B. Wilson is president of the Wilson Group, Inc., a consulting firm that specializes in the design and implementation of performance-based reward systems. Wilson frequently speaks at national conferences on how companies can use reward systems to increase revenues, enhance customer satisfaction, and implement strategic change initiatives. He wrote Innovative Reward Systems for the Changing Workplace, as well as numerous articles. He lives and works in Concord, Massachusetts.

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J. M. 3 years ago

good read
S. K. 6 years ago

If only GM used this wisdom more often.

Thomas B. Wilson