As the economy continues to recover, more companies are trying to ensure that they come out of the recession and other financial hardships with the best staff members they possibly can. Adding more training options to worthwhile personnel and severing those employees who fail to meet expectations can help organizations save money by boosting their return on investment potential by as much as they possibly can. However, companies need to be mindful that this top-rated talent is going to need more than a pat on the back in order for corporations to maintain their loyalty.

Making jobs worth it
Offering personnel incentive compensation solutions is in line with ongoing relationship maintenance. Employees want to be rewarded for their hard work, be it through total salary and wages, regular financial bonuses or perks that other staff members can't access. Health and wellness programs or gym memberships are in line with corporate ideas around caring for employees' entire well being – that in order for people to give 100 percent at the office, they need to feel good and live healthy when they're not at work. What's more, companies need to ensure the rewards they're giving top talent are the kinds of things they want and feel adequately meet the level of output they're providing in return.

"The attitude has gone from telling employees, 'Be thankful you have a job,' to companies asking, 'How do you hold on to the valuable talent you have?' " Sal Vittolino, an experienced consultant, told Buffalo News. "The name of the game is retention."

Vittolino is part of a firm that recently lead a major incentive compensation study. OI Partners-Action Management reviewed hiring and retention programs at more than 150 organizations to determine what current practices hold the most sway. The study revealed that almost 60 percent of businesses will be adding more personnel in the near future or have already brought more employees into their workforces recently. What's more, less than 10 percent of all respondents stated they felt they would need to reduce staff sizes soon.

Holding on to personnel has required more companies to seriously investigate and deploy incentive compensation management. The Buffalo News wrote that the responding organizations in the OI study stated that flex time and management recognition were big parts of their retention strategies, as well as offering overall financial rewards.