Rewards That Drive High Performance

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...