Your noble employees, who I will call the "I's," have been in the ring too long and have tired of running a relay race of one to the finish line. Your company has dropped the ball again after the "I" sets you up for the three-pointers on multiple occasions. You did not provide them with company-wide support. You did not give them a tool to provide optimized communication.
Your company didn't give that proverbial glass of water, that "pat on the back," to all MVP's, not just the sales guy. Now, the "I" dropped the mic and has left the building. It's all good - because everyone gets to play now, all third and fourth-round draft picks to the court! Your company is now feeling the burn of Socialism in Business. Socialism is a theory of social organization that advocates that the means of production, distribution, and exchange should be owned or regulated by the community as a whole, and it is destroying your business.
It's all good until somebody gets hurt.
There is an "I" in the team, and it is hidden in the "A-hole." It's excellent team-building to share incentives company-wide, but individuals should be rewarded for their achievements. I'm not saying communal pride/fellowship in accomplishment is terrible in all instances. It certainly deserves a high five and its merit-recognition spotlight. However, the team did not do that work, the "I" did. The "I" stayed up to 3:00 am to take that call in Japan, worked weekends, and gave up time to make that deal happen. The "I" was writing code instead of watching their son's little league game. You never noticed that extra effort? You did not have a system in place to track the extra effort. That is why the" I "left you in double overtime with 3 seconds left on the clock. You did not correctly acknowledge or incentivize them to stay.
You Missed the Free Throw
HR and Sales Management you missed the basket on both free throws, and the game is now over! Finance knows that you should expect the highest returns on the capital paid for salaries than any other expense or investment. Still, they have not added in the perks for the things that go above and beyond the functions of the job description. HR and Sales, Finance needs your help. Finance, HR, and Sales need factual numerical input from you and suggestions on how to automate the processes. This pass is essential and should be delivered by IT and Operations. Now the three of you come up with the plays, and even if you do not do anything else, learn to say, "thank you and give a little compliment on the extra effort". It is free and does a lot more than a ping pong table or beer!
Having individual performance plans with manually calculated different components is dangerous for the payee and the payer. The company could be losing up to 10% of its profit from mistakes in calculation, and when commissions are underpaid, it demotivating. Would the three of you please sometimes huddle, for the sake of the team and strategize about how to win the game, before some gets hurt? How about an automated process that lets your players know where they stand at all times as well as the coaches?
There is no "Team" in "I"?
Yet, they all get the same bonus and incentive? In some cases, no bonus or merit at all! Not fair. This lazy approach to formulating incentives leaves a bad taste in "I's" mouth and keeps the "Team" (everyone else) doing just what they need to do to scrape by. Your "I's" are not going away mad. They are going away to play on a different field/company and perhaps changing their game (commission structure and incentives) to golf as it is an individual sport. The company loses out. While it is not all about the "I," it is a significant amount.
Smart Companies Change the Game
Successful companies realize that to unleash performance, they must change the game through incentives, commissions, and merit. This usually only happens with sales. Imagine in a perfect world that all roles are incentivized on their performance. Imagine if all employees felt like shareholders, with individual purpose, goals, and directives, which led to a success with their pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. That could be a real game-changer in productivity and profitability.
Not sure how to or where to start? Talk with a Tasksuite Consultant. Experience and expertise are the foundation for Business Process Management and helping companies maximize their technology and drive their overall performance.
Marvina Case, TaskSuite
Excellent perspective, Marvina. One of the best books I read when I first became a manager in 1999 was Marcus Buckingham and Curt Coffman's 'First Break all the Rules' published in 1999. Two key chapters are Manage by Exception and Spend the Most Time with Your Best people. Essentially, work to set goals for each person and build the support systems, including your time as a manager, that gives them the best chance to succeed. And, low performers cannot monopolize your time as the top performers will feel neglected, taken advantage of and eventually leave the organization. A clear talent management philosophy coupled with easy to use technology tools is a great way to invest in your team.