外文翻譯-激勵(lì)薪酬：不僅為了高層管理者

PAGE我國(guó)會(huì)計(jì)師事務(wù)所薪酬激勵(lì)制度研究翻譯題目激勵(lì)薪酬：不僅為了高層管理者激勵(lì)薪酬：不僅為了高層管理者JimAbbottandBrianH.Kleiner.EmeraladBackfiles,2007(41):P16-P19為了在競(jìng)爭(zhēng)日益激烈的全球化經(jīng)濟(jì)中去的成功，雇主們必須持續(xù)地尋找更具創(chuàng)新的方式來(lái)降低成本和提高生產(chǎn)率。在過(guò)去的十幾年中，許多管理專(zhuān)家們寫(xiě)了一個(gè)很棒的關(guān)于怎樣更具有競(jìng)爭(zhēng)優(yōu)勢(shì)地經(jīng)營(yíng)美國(guó)商業(yè)的交易，從采用零庫(kù)存管理哲學(xué)，提供上好的客戶服務(wù)兩方面來(lái)改變管理者們對(duì)待和激勵(lì)員工的方式。采用最新制造技術(shù)或者改善客戶服務(wù)顯然很重要；但是確保任何一家公司能夠成功的必要因素之一是保留和激勵(lì)員工，從總經(jīng)理到一線生產(chǎn)人員。激勵(lì)曾只是被用在管理人員身上，但是現(xiàn)在，在近幾年人員配置問(wèn)題嚴(yán)重之后，許多公司把業(yè)績(jī)和利潤(rùn)激勵(lì)看作是讓現(xiàn)有員工保證質(zhì)量和提高生產(chǎn)效率的方式之一，同時(shí)給他們更大的控制自己的財(cái)務(wù)命運(yùn)的權(quán)利。為了提高生產(chǎn)效率和利潤(rùn)，幾千家公司已經(jīng)開(kāi)始試用各種針對(duì)那些底層員工的創(chuàng)新性地薪酬計(jì)劃來(lái)提高生產(chǎn)率和降低成本。績(jī)效薪酬計(jì)劃如用一次性獎(jiǎng)金代替基本工資的增長(zhǎng)，采用收入分享計(jì)劃來(lái)獎(jiǎng)勵(lì)質(zhì)量和生產(chǎn)效率的改進(jìn)，和按只是付薪制度即依據(jù)人工所掌握的技能而不是他們所承擔(dān)的任務(wù)來(lái)支付薪酬，這些措施都開(kāi)始代替?zhèn)鹘y(tǒng)的績(jī)效工資增長(zhǎng)和額外津貼。據(jù)美國(guó)生產(chǎn)效率和質(zhì)量中心報(bào)道說(shuō)75%的雇主現(xiàn)在至少用一種形式的非傳統(tǒng)薪酬支付計(jì)劃，并且大約80%的現(xiàn)代支付措施在過(guò)去五年已經(jīng)被采納了?？?jī)效薪酬的優(yōu)勢(shì)今天針對(duì)非管理層員工所采取的激勵(lì)措施有表現(xiàn)量大特征：他們將員工的發(fā)部分工資審計(jì)為風(fēng)險(xiǎn)工資，并且將其與員工的績(jī)效密切相關(guān)。原因是競(jìng)爭(zhēng)性。激勵(lì)薪酬不僅能夠激勵(lì)員工生產(chǎn)更多產(chǎn)品，還能夠壓制工資和相關(guān)利潤(rùn)，并且使薪酬成本的上升和下降決定于企業(yè)的時(shí)運(yùn)。激勵(lì)也能夠?qū)T工的注意力集中在成果上，同事鼓勵(lì)個(gè)人行動(dòng)變革和效率。DonaldGuerette，時(shí)間報(bào)警器公司的以為副總裁說(shuō)，增加動(dòng)機(jī)是他的公司使用績(jī)效薪酬計(jì)劃的原因之一，他覺(jué)得當(dāng)你有風(fēng)險(xiǎn)報(bào)酬時(shí)你就能去的更高的績(jī)效。他們希望確保金錢(qián)被分配給高績(jī)效者而不是與大家平分。公共議程基金會(huì)的一項(xiàng)調(diào)查顯示在845名藍(lán)領(lǐng)和白領(lǐng)員工中，有45%的人相信工資和績(jī)效沒(méi)有關(guān)聯(lián)；并且在許多例子中這都是真實(shí)的。通常的工資增長(zhǎng)與員工實(shí)際績(jī)效關(guān)系不大；并且在許多公司中，這些增長(zhǎng)很自然地變得幾乎每個(gè)人都有，無(wú)論是績(jī)效差還是高績(jī)效的員工得到確實(shí)相同比例的增長(zhǎng)。許多現(xiàn)存的薪酬計(jì)劃所伴隨的另一個(gè)問(wèn)題，也是許多員工的一個(gè)痛點(diǎn)問(wèn)題是，不管他們多么地努力工作和做了什么，管理層在一個(gè)高管薪酬基本是開(kāi)放式的行業(yè)平均水平的基礎(chǔ)上設(shè)置了最高的薪酬增長(zhǎng)。在這些方面加薪不允許獎(jiǎng)勵(lì)非凡的績(jī)效。一個(gè)人能夠異常努力地工作，并且最能被接受的報(bào)酬增長(zhǎng)是與通貨膨脹率增長(zhǎng)幅度相同的。這個(gè)問(wèn)題已經(jīng)出現(xiàn)在許多經(jīng)理面前，并且許多人已經(jīng)開(kāi)始試用新的薪酬計(jì)劃；但是一個(gè)沒(méi)有事先計(jì)劃想要完成的任務(wù)就改變公司激勵(lì)計(jì)劃的措施幾乎最后都以失敗告終。怎樣有效運(yùn)用激勵(lì)薪酬計(jì)劃激勵(lì)計(jì)劃應(yīng)該基于公司連著公司而被設(shè)計(jì)的，但是要確保計(jì)劃的成功還有一些知道方針應(yīng)該遵循。據(jù)MmarcJ.Wallace，Jr，一名肯塔基大學(xué)的管理學(xué)教授說(shuō)，公司要使激勵(lì)計(jì)劃有效實(shí)行必須遵循一下五個(gè)基本的建議：（1）從制定一個(gè)清晰的策略開(kāi)始。應(yīng)該有一個(gè)比較明確和可辨認(rèn)的目標(biāo)即公司想要完成什么任務(wù)，這些任務(wù)必須是被全體員工理解的。（2）集中在一些能被測(cè)量的工作上；并且確保管理者知道最佳績(jī)效表現(xiàn)由什么組成和如何去評(píng)估它。激勵(lì)計(jì)劃在員工能真切地看到他們?nèi)绾斡绊懩繕?biāo)運(yùn)作最有效。（3）分散激勵(lì)性通過(guò)允許個(gè)別事業(yè)部制定復(fù)合他們特殊情況的激勵(lì)計(jì)劃。（4）將激勵(lì)從基本工資中分離出來(lái)。激勵(lì)薪資應(yīng)該被一次性支付以強(qiáng)調(diào)獎(jiǎng)勵(lì)和績(jī)效之間的密切聯(lián)系。（5）創(chuàng)造一個(gè)“日落”條款。規(guī)定計(jì)劃被改良或者終止的條件，例如一次經(jīng)營(yíng)計(jì)劃的改變或者一中新產(chǎn)品的介紹。這最后一條建議非常重要，必須記住。即使是最好的獎(jiǎng)金制度也需要時(shí)常改變。當(dāng)公司發(fā)展了，經(jīng)營(yíng)轉(zhuǎn)換的需要，或者未料到的事件發(fā)生了等情況下。這個(gè)計(jì)劃可能開(kāi)始能夠?qū)崿F(xiàn)渴望的目標(biāo)，但是最后可能不能達(dá)到管理者最開(kāi)始預(yù)測(cè)的效果。一個(gè)由Naperbille，Illinois研究調(diào)查的SolarPress公司的獎(jiǎng)金制度的案例顯示，這家公司在過(guò)去的六個(gè)月三次改變了獎(jiǎng)金制度。一個(gè)激勵(lì)體制，只支付團(tuán)隊(duì)生產(chǎn)超額產(chǎn)品員工獎(jiǎng)金的制度將帶來(lái)很多問(wèn)題，當(dāng)成產(chǎn)的壓力造成團(tuán)隊(duì)員工忽略了質(zhì)量維護(hù)時(shí)。所以他們的機(jī)器裝備可能被損壞，而訂單卻難以保質(zhì)完成。只關(guān)注速度，質(zhì)量卻受損了，并且大量的工作需要翻工；而且當(dāng)一些團(tuán)隊(duì)發(fā)現(xiàn)一個(gè)新的和更好的工作方法時(shí)，他們會(huì)保密不告訴其他團(tuán)隊(duì)，生怕減少了他們的獎(jiǎng)金，雖然計(jì)劃能夠迅速提高生產(chǎn)效率，產(chǎn)量在某種程度上翻了好幾倍，這整個(gè)計(jì)劃實(shí)際上破壞了所有的團(tuán)隊(duì)合作和公司全員精神的感覺(jué)。SolarPress發(fā)現(xiàn)的是內(nèi)部競(jìng)爭(zhēng)引發(fā)爭(zhēng)執(zhí)，并帶來(lái)質(zhì)量為題，最終給公司造成的傷害遠(yuǎn)比幫助多。這種激勵(lì)措施最終將被廢棄，由于底線成果和個(gè)人表現(xiàn)同樣能得到獎(jiǎng)勵(lì)。這家公司的管理人員總結(jié)說(shuō)雖然這種新的激勵(lì)計(jì)劃被員工樂(lè)意接受，但如果它不能施行，你就必須愿意面對(duì)系統(tǒng)出現(xiàn)的問(wèn)題并重新開(kāi)始。GeneralHealth公司發(fā)現(xiàn)自己處在一個(gè)類(lèi)似的情形。這家公司設(shè)立了一個(gè)獎(jiǎng)金計(jì)劃，即向員工承諾只要他們達(dá)到了銷(xiāo)售目標(biāo)就都能獲得額外的月工資。據(jù)公司的老板JimBernstein說(shuō)這個(gè)計(jì)劃激勵(lì)效果難以置信的好。不幸的事，它運(yùn)行的太好了。公司開(kāi)始預(yù)定經(jīng)營(yíng)比以前更快了；但是隨著銷(xiāo)售量增加了，生產(chǎn)和為新賬戶服務(wù)的費(fèi)用也增加了。新的項(xiàng)目是帶來(lái)了巨大的壓力來(lái)花錢(qián)買(mǎi)新文學(xué)產(chǎn)品、電腦和其他服務(wù)人員。這家原本盈利的公司開(kāi)始變得虧損；幸運(yùn)的是，問(wèn)題被及早地發(fā)現(xiàn)并實(shí)行了一個(gè)新的激勵(lì)措施來(lái)平衡了公司發(fā)展的渴望和控制成本并保持充足的現(xiàn)金流和需求。集中激勵(lì)薪酬計(jì)劃利潤(rùn)分享計(jì)劃利潤(rùn)分享是被最廣泛運(yùn)用的一種形式的激勵(lì)薪酬計(jì)劃。超過(guò)30%的美國(guó)公司都采用它，這些利潤(rùn)的85%或者至少一部分獎(jiǎng)金被用在員工退休基金上。然而，很多企業(yè)用現(xiàn)金支付員工因?yàn)榧磿r(shí)獎(jiǎng)勵(lì)能夠抑制工資增長(zhǎng)；并且1986年頒發(fā)實(shí)施的稅務(wù)改革法令降低了稅率，使得現(xiàn)金貨幣薪酬更易于被大家接受。在一個(gè)典型的利潤(rùn)分享計(jì)劃下，員工得到一個(gè)基于企業(yè)利潤(rùn)的每年變化著的獎(jiǎng)金。這種激勵(lì)方案的有點(diǎn)就在于激勵(lì)配方簡(jiǎn)單和效果容易傳達(dá)，它確保公司能擔(dān)負(fù)得起，因?yàn)槔麧?rùn)分享只是在企業(yè)充分盈利的情況下的獎(jiǎng)勵(lì)措施，并且它能將雇主和員工的經(jīng)濟(jì)利益結(jié)合起來(lái)。企業(yè)普遍堅(jiān)持的信仰是利潤(rùn)分享將提高生產(chǎn)效率。然而，大部分薪酬專(zhuān)家認(rèn)為利潤(rùn)分享不是一個(gè)很有效的激勵(lì)措施，因?yàn)榇蟛糠值膯T工對(duì)利潤(rùn)只有很小的影響。財(cái)政決策例如負(fù)債，改變價(jià)格和水手都能改變整個(gè)收益狀況。薪酬顧問(wèn)TowesPerrin發(fā)現(xiàn)激勵(lì)計(jì)劃在當(dāng)員工能夠從減少重修工作的花費(fèi)或者提高生產(chǎn)效率中看到他們?cè)鯓佑绊懩繕?biāo)的情況下才最有效。利潤(rùn)分享也可以用來(lái)激勵(lì)高層管理者；但是激勵(lì)那些底層銷(xiāo)售人員，需要更具體的工作激勵(lì)措施。收益分享計(jì)劃一種容易被理解并能讓員工看到他們是怎樣影響目標(biāo)的激勵(lì)計(jì)劃是收益分享。雖然收益分享計(jì)劃從20世紀(jì)30年代被運(yùn)用，經(jīng)歷了一場(chǎng)當(dāng)企業(yè)師徒將工資作為工具來(lái)達(dá)到目的的復(fù)出。收益分享是一個(gè)很廣泛的名次，指的是獎(jiǎng)勵(lì)員工改善績(jī)效的計(jì)劃。這些計(jì)劃傾向于每月支付一次獎(jiǎng)金，從而讓員工持續(xù)的看到他們的獎(jiǎng)金與績(jī)效是相關(guān)的。當(dāng)一個(gè)團(tuán)隊(duì)活一個(gè)單位超過(guò)了他們預(yù)先定下的目標(biāo)，例如改善生產(chǎn)效率，質(zhì)量和客戶服務(wù)，所有的團(tuán)隊(duì)成員都能獲得獎(jiǎng)金。為了實(shí)施更有效，這些目標(biāo)必須可測(cè)量，管理層必須愿意分享機(jī)密的生產(chǎn)和財(cái)務(wù)信息，并且鼓勵(lì)員工參與計(jì)劃制定中來(lái)。收益分享計(jì)劃的有點(diǎn)礙于它能夠加強(qiáng)協(xié)調(diào)和團(tuán)隊(duì)合作，員工能夠?qū)W習(xí)到更多業(yè)務(wù)知識(shí)并專(zhuān)注于他們的目標(biāo)，同時(shí)他們會(huì)更努力的工作也變得更聰明。但是，還有一句警告，那些實(shí)施員工關(guān)注與一個(gè)目標(biāo)計(jì)劃的公司發(fā)現(xiàn)他們的員工會(huì)忽略其他重要的目標(biāo)，例如維持和產(chǎn)品質(zhì)量，這就是SolarPress和GeneralHealth.公司曾出現(xiàn)的情況。一個(gè)成功的收益分享計(jì)劃可以在Nucor，一家每年盈利十億的非聯(lián)合煉鋼廠中看到。這家公司在物價(jià)分軋鋼廠試試了收益分享計(jì)劃。工人們過(guò)的周獎(jiǎng)金基于他們生產(chǎn)小組生產(chǎn)的合格質(zhì)量的鋼鐵的噸數(shù)，雖然幾本工資是工會(huì)的一般，由于獎(jiǎng)金，普通工人掙得比他或者他聯(lián)合對(duì)等的人多2000美元。作為準(zhǔn)時(shí)到達(dá)的一種激勵(lì)措施，遲到的工人將失去他們當(dāng)天的獎(jiǎng)金，遲到超過(guò)三十分鐘的工人將失去他們一周的獎(jiǎng)金。收益分享計(jì)劃在服務(wù)行業(yè)也成為一種流行趨勢(shì)。隨著勞工成本包括百分之六十到七十的營(yíng)業(yè)費(fèi)用，雇主們正在運(yùn)用這種形式的激勵(lì)來(lái)保持基本工資和相關(guān)福利較低而不影響對(duì)員工的激勵(lì)。在AdministrativeConcepts公司，一家福利咨詢(xún)公司，勞工成本降低了不只百分之十自從實(shí)行了收益分享計(jì)劃。員工也在承擔(dān)一定的利息在公司運(yùn)營(yíng)方面和尋找更好的方法降低其他非勞工成本。按知識(shí)付薪另外一個(gè)激勵(lì)非管理層員工的方式是采用一種按只是付薪的激勵(lì)計(jì)劃。這種計(jì)劃將員工的工資增長(zhǎng)或者獎(jiǎng)金與他們所完成的任務(wù)數(shù)量而不考慮工作績(jī)效緊密相連。例如，北方電信的交換機(jī)開(kāi)關(guān)植于美國(guó)加州SantaClara，獎(jiǎng)勵(lì)只有當(dāng)工人們學(xué)習(xí)新技能的“塊狀區(qū)域”，如集成電路準(zhǔn)備或系統(tǒng)的檢測(cè)時(shí)才會(huì)增加。這種類(lèi)型的有點(diǎn)是，員工激勵(lì)方案更加靈活，并且公司能夠在員工匱乏的情況下運(yùn)作，工人們也有一個(gè)非常廣闊的視角，這使得他們更熟練與解決問(wèn)題。為了使這種激勵(lì)措施有效，技能必須被鑒定并指定一個(gè)工資支付等級(jí)；公司也必須建立一個(gè)很好的員工評(píng)估和培訓(xùn)的程序。這個(gè)計(jì)劃的一個(gè)缺點(diǎn)是發(fā)部分員工將最終學(xué)會(huì)所有能應(yīng)用的技能，這翻過(guò)來(lái)增加了勞工成本。一次性獎(jiǎng)金另外一種流行的激勵(lì)計(jì)劃就是一次性獎(jiǎng)金。這種計(jì)劃通常運(yùn)用在工資或者薪水增長(zhǎng)并基于績(jī)效支付給員工一次性的現(xiàn)金獎(jiǎng)勵(lì)。這種獎(jiǎng)金不是基本工資的一部分。這種計(jì)劃的優(yōu)點(diǎn)在于它能讓公司通過(guò)限制工資增長(zhǎng)和伴隨利潤(rùn)增長(zhǎng)等方式控制固定成本。這個(gè)計(jì)劃的帶來(lái)的問(wèn)題是管理層有事主觀的發(fā)放獎(jiǎng)金，因此員工可能會(huì)感到不公平而厭惡獎(jiǎng)金制度。結(jié)論盡管這篇文章主要講述的是對(duì)非管理層員工的激勵(lì)，但大部分觀念仍然恩能運(yùn)用到高層管理者的激勵(lì)計(jì)劃中。當(dāng)發(fā)展員工激勵(lì)計(jì)劃時(shí)，主要強(qiáng)調(diào)的是使計(jì)劃盡量保持簡(jiǎn)單。人們很難被激勵(lì)除非他們能清晰簡(jiǎn)便的看到他們的薪酬與績(jī)效是相聯(lián)系的。獎(jiǎng)勵(lì)應(yīng)該是實(shí)質(zhì)性和無(wú)限制的，但是建立在一定比例的利潤(rùn)或者目標(biāo)實(shí)現(xiàn)的基礎(chǔ)上，并且這種激勵(lì)必須是基于員工或者管理者能夠控制自己績(jī)效的基礎(chǔ)上的。公司也應(yīng)該有一個(gè)清晰的策略即在實(shí)施這種激勵(lì)計(jì)劃后公司希望達(dá)到一個(gè)什么樣的目標(biāo)或完成一項(xiàng)什么樣的任務(wù)。如果這些計(jì)劃不能讓公司的所有目標(biāo)相平衡，它很可能更多的是給公司帶來(lái)?yè)p害而非利益。金錢(qián)仍然是一個(gè)首要的激勵(lì)工具。那些希望得到更多薪酬或相信提高效率能夠得到更多回報(bào)的員工會(huì)更加努力和精明地工作以得到更多報(bào)酬。激勵(lì)措施主要是使員工關(guān)注他們的成果，同時(shí)鼓勵(lì)他們個(gè)人的行動(dòng)變革和效率。出處：吉姆.艾伯特和布朗H.克萊尼爾.激勵(lì)薪酬：不僅為了高層管理者.綠色期刊.2007（41）：P16-P17IncentivePay:NotJustForTopManagementTobesuccessfulinanincreasinglycompetitiveglobaleconomy,employersmustconstantlybelookingformorecreativewaystoreducecostsandimproveproductivity.Overthepastdecade,numerousmanagementexpertshavewrittenagreatdealabouthowtomakeAmericanbusinessesmorecompetitive,fromadoptingthejust-in-timephilosophy,providingsuperiorcustomerservice,tochangingthewaymanagementtreatsandmotivatesitsemployees.Adoptingthelatestmanufacturingtechniquesorimprovingcustomerserviceisobviouslyimportant;butoneofthemostimportantelementsrequiredtoensurethesuccessofanycompanyistoretainandmotivateitsemployees,fromtheCEOdowntotheproductionlineworker.Incentivesusedtobejustformanagers;butnow,afterseverelyparingstaffinrecentyears,companiesviewperformanceandprofitincentivesasawaytosqueezequalityandproductivityimprovementsfromitsremainingworkers,whilegivingthemgreatercontrolovertheirfinancialfates.Toimproveproductivityandprofits,thousandsofcompanieshavestartedtoexperimentwithavarietyofcreativepayplansfortheirlowerlevelworkerstoincreaseproductivityandcutcosts.Pay-for-performanceplanssuchaslumpsumbonusesthatreplacebasewageincreases,gainsharingplanstorewardimprovementsinqualityandproductivity,andpay-for-knowledgesystemsthatpayworkersfortheskillstheymasterratherthanforthetaskstheyperform,arebeginningtodisplacethetraditionalmeritwageincreasesandbonuspayments.TheAmericanProductivity&QualityCenterreportsthat75percentofemployersnowuseatleastoneformofnon-traditionalpayplan,androughly80percenthavebeenadoptedinthelastfiveyears.AdvantagesofPay-for-performanceTheincentiveprogrammesbeingutilizedtodayfornon-managementemployeessharetwocharacteristics.Theyplacemoreofeachemployee'spayatrisk,andtheylinkthatpaymorecloselytoperformance.Thereasoniscompetitiveness.Notonlydoesincentivepaymotivateworkerstoproducemore,italsoholdsdownwagesandwagerelatedbenefitsandletscompensationcostsriseandfallwiththecompany'sfortunes.Incentivesalsofocusanemployee'sattentiononresults,whileencouragingindividualinitiative,innovation,andefficiency.DonaldGuerette,avice-presidentofTimeWarnerInc.,saysincreasingmotivationisonereasonwhyhiscompanyhasstartedtoexperimentwithpay-for-performanceplans.Hefeelsthatwhenyouhavepayatriskyougetbetterperformance.Othertopexecutivesagree.Theywanttomakesurethatthedollarsareallocatedtothebetterperformersandnotasmuchtotheaverageones.AsurveybythePublicAgendaFoundationshowedthatoutof845blueandwhite-collarworkers,45percentbelievethereisnolinkbetweenpayandperformance;andthisistrueinmanycases.Theusualmeritincreaseoftenhaslittletodowithmerit;andinmanycompaniestheseincreaseshavebecomeautomaticwithalmosteveryone,thepoorperformerorthestargettingaboutthesamepercentageincrease.Anotherproblemwithmanyexistingcompensationplans,andasorepointwithanumberofemployees,isthatnomatterhowhardtheyworkorwhattheydo,managementhassetamaximumincreaseinpaybasedonanindustryaveragewhiletopexecutivepayisbasicallyopenended.Thesecapsonpayincreasesdonotallowforrewardingextraordinaryperformance.Apersoncanworkexceptionallyhard,andthebestwhichisreceivedisanincreaseequaltotherateofinflation.Thisproblemhasbecomeapparenttoanumberofmanagers,andmanyhavestartedtoexperimentwithnewpayplans;butchangingthecompany'sincentiveplanswithoutfirstplanningwhatyouwanttoaccomplishisalmostcertainlyinvitingfailure.HowtoMakeIncentivePayPlansWorkIncentiveplansshouldbedesignedonacompany-by-companybasis,buttherearecertainguidelineswhichshouldbefollowedtohelptoensureasuccessfulprogramme.AccordingtoMarcJ.Wallace,Jr,aprofessorofmanagementattheUniversityofKentucky,therearefivebasicsuggestionswhichcompaniesshouldfollowtomaketheincentiveplanwork:(1)Startwithaclearstrategy.Thereshouldbeclearandidentifiablegoalswhichthecompanywantstoaccomplishwhichareunderstandablebyallemployees.(2)Focusonjobsthatcanbemeasured;andmakesurethatmanagersknowwhatconstitutespeakperformanceandhowtovalueit.Incentiveplansworkbestwhenworkerscanactuallyseehowtheyinfluencetargets.(3)Decentralizeincentivesbyallowingindividualbusinessunitstotailorrewardplanstotheirspecificsituations.(4)Separateincentivesfrombasepay.Theincentiveshouldbedeliveredinalumpsumtohighlightthelinkbetweenrewardsandperformance.(5)Createa"sunset"provision.Statetheconditionsunderwhichtheprogrammewillbemodifiedorterminated,suchasachangeinthebusinessplanortheintroductionofanewtechnology.Thislastpointisveryimportanttoremember.Eventhebestbonussystemsneedchangingfromtimetotime.Thecompanygrows,theneedsofthebusinessshift,orunforeseeneventsoccur.Theplanmaystartoutachievingthedesiredgoalbutcouldultimatelynotprovidetheresultswhichmanagementoriginallyintended.OnecasestudyexaminedthebonussystemofSolarPress,Inc.ofNaperville,Illinois,andfoundthatthecompanyhaschangeditsbonussystemthreetimesinthelastsixyears.Oneincentivesystem,whichpaidbonusestoteamsofemployeeswhoproducedoveracertainquota,beganhavingproblemswhenthepressuretoproducecausedteamstoneglectmaintenance;sotheirequipmentbrokedownandorderscouldnotbefilled.Withthefocusonspeed,qualitysuffered,andanumberofjobshadtobereworked;andifanyteamfoundanewandbetterwayofdoingsomething,theykeptittothemselvesforfearoflesseningtheirbonus.Althoughtheplaninitiallyimprovedproductivity,withproductionoutputdoublinginsomecases,thewholeprogrammeactuallydestroyedanyfeelingofteamworkorcompany-widespirit.WhatSolarPressfoundoutwasthatinternalcompetitionhadsetoffrivalries,whichcreatedqualityproblems,andultimatelyhurtthecompanymorethanithelped.Theincentiveplanwasfinallyscrappedforonethatrewardedeveryoneforbottomlineresultsaswellasindividualperformance.Thecompany'smanagementconcludedthatalthoughthenewincentiveplanwaswellreceivedbytheemployees,ifitdoesnotwork,youhavetobewillingtofaceuptowhatiswrongwiththesystemandstartagain.GeneralHealthInc.founditselfinasimilarsituation.Thecompanysetupabonusprogrammewhereemployeeswerepromisedthatiftheyhitthesalestarget,theywouldallgetanextramonth'spay.TheplanwasincrediblymotivatingaccordingtotheownerJimBernstein.Unfortunately,itworkedtoowell.Thecompanybeganbookingbusinessfasterthaneverbefore;butassalesincreased,sodidtheexpensesofgeneratingandservicingthenewaccounts.Thenewvolumewascreatingamazingpressurestospendmoneyonnewproductliterature,computersandsupportstaff.Theonceprofitablecompanybeganlosingmoney;fortunately,theproblemswererecognizedearlyandanewincentiveplanwasinstalledwhichbalancedthedesireforgrowthwiththeneedtocontrolcostsandmaintainadequatecashflow.TypesofIncentivePayPlansProfitSharingThemostwidelyusedformofincentivecompensationisprofitsharing.Morethan30percentofUScompanieshaveit,with85percentofthesedeferringatleastpartofthebonusesbyputtingthemintoemployeeretirementfunds.However,morefirmsarepayingemployeesincashbecausetheimmediaterewardhelpstoholddownwageincreases;andtheTaxReformActof1986,whichloweredthetaxrates,hasmadecashcompensationmoreacceptable.Underatypicalprofit-sharingplan,employeesreceiveavaryingannualbonusbasedoncorporateprofits.Theadvantagestothistypeofplanarethattheincentiveformulaissimpleandeasytocommunicate;itisguaranteedtobeaffordablebecauseitonlypayswhenthefirmissufficientlyprofitable,anditunitesthefinancialinterestofownersandemployees.Thecommonlyheldbeliefamongcorporationsisthatprofitsharingwillincreaseproductivity.However,mostcompensationexpertsbelievethatprofitsharingisnotaneffectivemotivatorbecausemostemployeeshavelittleinfluenceonprofits.Financialdecisionssuchastakingondebt,pricingchangesortaxescanchangetheentireprofitpicture.CompensationconsultantsTowersPerrinfoundthatincentiveplansworkbestwhenemployeescanactuallyseehowtheyinfluencetargets,asinthecaseofreducingreworkexpenseorincreasingproductivity.Profitsharingmayprovideanincentivefortopmanagement;buttomotivatethoseontheshopfloor,morejobspecificincentivesareinorder.GainsharingOnetypeofincentiveplanwhichissimpletounderstandandallowsworkerstoseehowtheyareinfluencingtheirtargetsisgainsharing.Althoughgainsharinghasbeenaroundsincethe1930s,itisexperiencingacomebackascompaniesattempttousepayasatooltodriveresults.Gainsharingisabroadtermthatreferstoprogrammesthatrewardemployeesforimprovedoutput.Theseplanstendtopayoutasoftenasmonthly,sothatemployeesconsistentlyseearelationshipbetweenthebonusesandtheirperformance.Whenateamorunitexceedspredeterminedtargets,suchasimprovedproductivity,qualityandcustomerservice,allteammembersgetbonuses.Tobeeffectivethesetargetsmustbemeasurable,managementmustbewillingtoshareconfidentialproductivityandfinancialinformation,andencourageemployeesinvolvementbyincludingtheminthedesignoftheplan.Theadvantagesofgainsharingarethatitcanenhanceco-ordinationandteamwork,employeescanlearnmoreaboutthebusinessandfocusonobjectives,andtheyalsoworkharderandmoreintelligently.Awordofcaution,however.Companieswithplansthatfocusonlyononegoalmayfindtheiremployeesignoringotherimportantobjectives,suchasmaintenanceandquality,aswasthecasewithSolarPressandGeneralHealth.AnexampleofasuccessfulgainsharingplancanbefoundatNucor,a$1-billion-a-year,non-unionsteelmaker.Thecompanyinstalledagainsharingplanatitsfivesteelmills.Workersearnweeklybonusesbasedonthenumberoftonsofacceptablequalitysteeltheirproductionteamhasproduced.Althoughbasewagesarehalftheunionrate,becauseofbonusestheaverageworkerearns$2,000morethanhis/herunioncounterparts.Asanincentivetoarriveontime,workerswhoarelatelosetheirbonusesfortheday;workerswhoaremorethan30minuteslatelosetheirbonusesfortheweek.Gainsharingprogrammeshavealsobecomepopularintheserviceindustry.Withlabourcostscomprising60-70percentofoperatingexpenses,employersareusingthistypeofincentivetokeepthebasepayandrelatedbenefitslowerwhilestillmotivatingemployees.AtAdministrativeConceptsInc.,abenefitsconsultingfirm,labourcostshavedroppedbymorethan10percentsinceagainsharingplanwasintroduced.Employeesarealsotakingakeenerinterestincompanyoperationsandarelookingoutforwaystocutothernon-labourcosts|.Pay-for-knowledgeAnotherwaytomotivatethenonmanagementemployeeistoadoptapay-for-knowledgeincentiveplan.Thistypeofplantiesanemployee'swageraiseorbonustothenumberoftaskswhichcanbedoneregardlessofthejobperformed.Forexample,NorthernTelecom'sPBXswitchplantinSantaClara,California,awardsincreasestoworkersonlywhentheylearnnew"skillblocks",suchascircuit-boardpreparationorsystemtesting.Theadvantagesofthistypeofincentiveplanarethatemployeesbecomemoreflexibleandthecompanycanoperatewithaleanerstaff.Theworkersalsohaveabroaderperspective,whichmakesthemmoreadeptatproblemsolving.Tomakethistypeofincentiveeffective,skillsmustbeidentifiedandassignedapaygrade;andthecompanymustalsohavewelldevelopedemployeeassessmentandtrainingprocedures.Oneofthedrawbacksofthisplanisthatmostemployeeswilleventuallylearnallapplicableskills,whichinturnraiseslabourcosts.Lump-sumBonusAnotherpopularincentiveplanhasbeenthelump-sumbonus.Thisplanusuallytakestheplaceofawageorsalaryi