When it comes to getting more action out of top performers, companies need a way to generate motivation in these key personnel. The same strategies that encourage the best staff members to go beyond what's normally expected of them also serve to energize employees in the median and lowest ranks of performance stratification, improving overall output and productivity across the spectrum. The key to success in sales compensation management is to ensure that the performance benchmarks organizations use to judge the worthiness of a person's actions are fair and balanced.
Creating a fair solution
Smart Business Online wrote that creating the perfect incentive compensation system demands that firms pay attention to defining the right metrics. If the methodology surrounding a compensation plan doesn't make adequate sense, personnel won't accept the reward system and companies won't experience any benefits from enacting such a solution. The prizes and awards offered must also seem fair in exchange for the extra effort people would have to exert in order to earn them, the source added.
"You need some form of performance-based compensation to keep top performers motivated and happy," said Brian Berning of SS&G, an accounting and consultancy firm. "They want to believe that they can make as much as they possibly can if they are able to achieve goals. And with a variable component, there's rarely a ceiling on it."
Setting common goals
The source stated that incentive compensation must reflect the goals and outcomes an organization most wants to experience. These rewards should be tied to important milestones in the process, such as accomplishing fixed tasks in faster times or completing a certain percentage of intended overall sales. When these indicators identify excellence in action while performing routine requirements of people's jobs, employees will feel more motivated to increase their productivity and hone their skills in order to complete tasks faster and more accurately. Incentives make it easy for companies to elicit these responses from their personnel.
By creating a clear and balanced management system for incentive compensation, all staff members will better understand the ways in which they can earn rewards, which helps the business determine who and how much they should give to their top performers. This method helps draw attention more publicly all throughout an organization as well, giving lower-ranking employees the chance to be recognized by management for providing superior performance.
