There is increasing interest in the subject of employee engagement these days as more businesses realize the value of highly focused and committed employees. Business Week recently published an article touting the value of a highly engaged workforce, which emphasizes the strength of this connection. It's can be accomplished with…
In his fascinating book, Freakonomics, Steven Levitt remarked that “Incentives are the cornerstone of life” … yet so many companies don’t pay more than cursory attention to them, and invariably, only with respect to the most mundane, traditional sales compensation plans.
There’s probably nothing you can do to more powerfully drive the performance of your employees than to carefully consider your incentive plans. If you think yours are working beautifully and don’t need any attention, check in with Steven Levitt to see how easily they go astray. (more…)
Today's WSJ article touting the leap in productivity is a good reminder that metrics based on unit inputs/outputs is a very valuable tool. Make sure that you're not just measuring revenue, margins and profits ... but measuring them against "unit" metrics like headcount and hours worked. If you watch those…
Creating goals that have meaning“It’s just a goal.”
That’s a phrase I’ve heard too many times when a business leader engages in a performance review with an employee or when companies embark on a corporate planning effort.
Do they mean that a goal is more like a road sign, pointing the way without regard for whether you actually arrive?
Is it like the proverbial carrot dangled on the stick in front of us, with some motivational value but with no expectation that we will ever feast upon it? (more…)
I have posted many items and reflections about the critical importance of regular, unbiased feedback as the linchpin to achieving accountability throughout your organization. The most recent example is the interview with Anne Mulcahy, CEO of Xerox. John Donahoe, the CEO of eBay since 2008, offered his unequivocal enthusiasm for…