Tag: communication

Turning to a union―what’s going on?

by Richard Reinhardt Under the National Labor Relations Act, all employees―whether they work for government employers, unionized companies, or private companies without a union―have a right to attempt to unionize and speak with other employees about unionization or the terms and conditions of their employment. As traditional union strongholds such as automobile and manufacturing decline, […]

Winning Compensation Scorecards: What to Measure for Effective Results

Compensation Scorecards A compensation scorecard is any dissemination of aggregate compensation information beyond the HR organization. There are several types of scorecards, says Insler, who is the senior vice president at Sibson Consulting and leader of Sibson’s Western Region. His tips came during a recent BLR-sponsored webinar. Basic compensation information (e.g., average merit increase) Comparative […]

Windfalls and Changing the Terms of Commission Agreements

Vesting of Commissions One particularly difficult sticking point with commission agreements is failing to define what is supposed to happen if a sale is canceled or the terms need to be renegotiated. One solution that eliminates many problems is to state that a draw or advance becomes a vested commission only after all conditions on […]

Bad Commission Agreements—Lawsuit Magnet

Sales compensation litigation is especially tricky because commissioned salespeople are particularly litigious. They are trained to read complicated agreements, and they will find the bad provisions. Furthermore, sales personnel are very persuasive speakers—that’s why you hired them—and they’re likely to be able to convince the court of their interpretation of the commission agreement. Kato, who […]

Great Incentive Plan + Poor Communication = Poor Incentive Plan

Communicating the Sales Incentive Plan Sometimes Pasteris sees the situation in which there was a great sales plan design but it failed because it was not well understood and appreciated by the salespeople. To avoid that situation, make sure that you: Send an announcement letter, particularly with the new plan that spells out its features. […]

Incentives End-of-the-Year Checkup

Incentive Compensation Checklist General Questions       Do you have an incentive compensation plan? Yes□  No□ Is it in writing? Yes□  No□ Does your incentive plan support the company’s mission and long-term goals/objectives? Yes□  No□ What levels of the organization will participate in the incentive compensation plan, e.g., top management, salespeople, entire organization? Yes□  […]

What Did You Learn About Exec Comp to Apply to 2014?

Executive Compensation Checklist General       Do you have a plan for executive compensation? Yes□  No□ Is it in writing? Yes□  No□ Does it have stated goals? Yes□  No□ Do those goals include:   Increasing productivity? Yes□  No□ Increasing quality? Yes□  No□ Retaining good employees? Yes□  No□ Attracting good employees? Yes□  No□ Rewarding good […]

Coach’s decision to disband team scores points in character building

by Dan Oswald A football coach in Utah recently went to great lengths to make sure his players understand the importance of high-school athletics—that is, he suspended almost the entire team because they were skipping class, had poor grades, and were even participating in bullying a fellow student. The coach, Matt Labrum, had his priorities […]