Using Total Rewards to Motivate Sales Professionals During Uncertain Economic Times
Using Total Rewards to Motivate Sales Professionals During Uncertain Economic Times
What can sales professionals, HR business partners, and operations teams do to ensure organization success and continued employee motivation during these uncertain economic times?
Adopt a total rewards perspective.
The concept of total rewards is that an organization has many tools for employee reward and recognition. It’s no longer all about base pay, bonuses, and benefits. Today’s proactive organizations use all five elements of total rewards to attract and retain employees. These five elements,
• Pay,
• Benefits,
• Work / life balance,
• Performance and recognition, and
• Development and career opportunities,
provide an organization with many non-cash opportunities to motivate and retain its talent. Non-cash total rewards can effectively recognize specific behaviors necessary for organizational success. Given the variety inherent in non-cash rewards, they also permit greater flexibility for customizing the total rewards package to reach each employee’s motivational sweet spot. Moving beyond formal cash compensation programs also allows faster recognition opportunities. The quick response time afforded by non-cash rewards may be desirable to many employees, particularly Generation X and Y team members, to whom six months may seem like a lifetime. Depending on the type of non-cash award provided, there may also be little or no income tax implication, music to everyone’s ears. Lastly, non-cash rewards allow an organization to recognize employee achievement without a possible negative impact on cash flow or increase to fixed costs.
When developing a total rewards program, it’s important to consider these guiding key principles:
1. Link the program’s elements to your organization’s strategic plan, mission, and values. You don’t want to reward individual achievement if teamwork is a valued behavior. Likewise, use meaningful objectives such as reducing excess inventory, selling higher margin products, or increasing customer retention, to obtain the greatest return on investment (ROI) from the program.
2. Include both short- and long-term goals. Both play an important role in ensuring sustainable organizational success, particularly in a challenging economic climate.
3. Tailor the program to employees’ specific needs and wants. For example, while pre-paid gas cards may possess high motivational power for someone in Texas, a New York City resident may instead appreciate a four-day workweek. At the same time, someone in Chicago may prefer cross-training opportunities. Build a variety of rewards into your toolkit for maximum ROI.
4. Ensure that line of sight exists between the employees’ job duties, their goals, and their rewards. An employee must be able to influence and achieve his / her goals through regular work activities.
Sales professionals and their business line partners must move beyond the traditional base + bonus + benefits mindset to be successful in today’s economy. By considering all the possible compensation elements – or total rewards – sales professionals open up a world of compensation opportunities that are better tailored to their needs, both professionally and personally. Proactive, engaging organizations use a total rewards approach to attract, retain, and motivate the best possible talent. Using a total rewards approach ensures a win-win work environment for both parties.
Using Total Rewards to Motivate Sales Professionals During Uncertain Economic Times - To learn more about this author, visit Jennifer Loftus's Website.
Like this article? Share it with your friends
For years, sales professionals – along with their Human Resource and business line support partners – have relied on incentive compensation and sales commissions as the primary tools to recognize and reward sales success. In today’s economic climate, however, most sales professionals will not enjoy large gains in pay for performance compensation as occurred in previous years. The Alexander Group, a well-known sales growth consulting firm, predicts 4% increases in sales incentive compensation pay this year. When the escalating costs of food and gasoline quickly whittle away four percent increases, a sales commission plan quickly loses its desired motivational impact.
What can sales professionals, HR business partners, and operations teams do to ensure organization success and continued employee motivation during these uncertain economic times?
Adopt a total rewards perspective.
The concept of total rewards is that an organization has many tools for employee reward and recognition. It’s no longer all about base pay, bonuses, and benefits. Today’s proactive organizations use all five elements of total rewards to attract and retain employees. These five elements,
• Pay,
• Benefits,
• Work / life balance,
• Performance and recognition, and
• Development and career opportunities,
provide an organization with many non-cash opportunities to motivate and retain its talent. Non-cash total rewards can effectively recognize specific behaviors necessary for organizational success. Given the variety inherent in non-cash rewards, they also permit greater flexibility for customizing the total rewards package to reach each employee’s motivational sweet spot. Moving beyond formal cash compensation programs also allows faster recognition opportunities. The quick response time afforded by non-cash rewards may be desirable to many employees, particularly Generation X and Y team members, to whom six months may seem like a lifetime. Depending on the type of non-cash award provided, there may also be little or no income tax implication, music to everyone’s ears. Lastly, non-cash rewards allow an organization to recognize employee achievement without a possible negative impact on cash flow or increase to fixed costs.
When developing a total rewards program, it’s important to consider these guiding key principles:
1. Link the program’s elements to your organization’s strategic plan, mission, and values. You don’t want to reward individual achievement if teamwork is a valued behavior. Likewise, use meaningful objectives such as reducing excess inventory, selling higher margin products, or increasing customer retention, to obtain the greatest return on investment (ROI) from the program.
2. Include both short- and long-term goals. Both play an important role in ensuring sustainable organizational success, particularly in a challenging economic climate.
3. Tailor the program to employees’ specific needs and wants. For example, while pre-paid gas cards may possess high motivational power for someone in Texas, a New York City resident may instead appreciate a four-day workweek. At the same time, someone in Chicago may prefer cross-training opportunities. Build a variety of rewards into your toolkit for maximum ROI.
4. Ensure that line of sight exists between the employees’ job duties, their goals, and their rewards. An employee must be able to influence and achieve his / her goals through regular work activities.
Sales professionals and their business line partners must move beyond the traditional base + bonus + benefits mindset to be successful in today’s economy. By considering all the possible compensation elements – or total rewards – sales professionals open up a world of compensation opportunities that are better tailored to their needs, both professionally and personally. Proactive, engaging organizations use a total rewards approach to attract, retain, and motivate the best possible talent. Using a total rewards approach ensures a win-win work environment for both parties.
Using Total Rewards to Motivate Sales Professionals During Uncertain Economic Times - To learn more about this author, visit Jennifer Loftus's Website.
Like this article? Share it with your friends
 | |
 |
No article feedback found. |
| |
Leave Your Feedback |
 | |
| |||
Linda RichardsonLinda Richardson is the Founder and Executive Chairwoman of Richardson, a global sales training and performance improvement company. As a recognized leader in the industry, she has won the coveted Stevie Award for Lifetime Achievement in Sales Excellence and she was identified by Training Industry, Inc. as one of the “Top 20 Most Influential Training Professionals.” Ms. Richardson is credited with the movement to Consultative Selling and is the author of ten books on selling and sales management, including Sales Coaching — Making the Great Leap from Sales Manager to Sales Coach, and Stop Telling, Start Selling. She teaches sales and management at the Wharton Graduate School of the University of Pennsylvania and the Wharton Executive Development Center. Linda is a frequent speaker at industry and client conferences, has been published extensively in industry and training journals, and has been featured in numerous publications, including The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Nation’s Business, Selling Power, Success, and The Conference Board Magazine. Learn more about Richardson's sales training and performance improvement solutions at http://www.richardson.com web - Visit Linda Richardson's Website |
|||
David AchesonDavid Acheson is the founder of DCJA Consultancy. DCJA Consultancy is a management consultancy business specialising in B2B sales consultancy. They offer bespoke and packaged sales consultancy including Sales Optimisation Review, Interim Sales Management, Sales & Marketing Review, 1:1 Sales & Management Staff Analysis, Management Training, Solution Sales Training, Creation of New Pay Plan, KPI's, run Customer Feedback Campaigns, assist with Recruitment, Coaching, Appraisals and set up Strategic Marketing Campaigns. David spent his early career in accountancy and then moved into sales in 1982, working in Office Equipment, IT, Advertising, Training, Outsourcing and Consultancy. He has held many Senior Positions in SMBs and Global Organisations including Head of Sales Operations & Head of Business Development. His knowledge, skills and great experience of the Sales Industry has led to David making keynote speeches and running educational sessions to key businesses through organisations including The Chamber of Commerce and Business Link. - Visit David Acheson's Website |
|||
Dave KurlanDave Kurlan is the founder and CEO of Objective Management Group, Inc., the industry leader in sales assessments and sales force evaluations, and the CEO of David Kurlan & Associates, Inc., a consulting firm specializing in sales force development. Dave has been a top rated speaker at Inc. Magazine's Conference on Growing the Company, the Sales & Marketing Management Conference and the Gazelles Sales & Marketing Summit. He has been featured on radio and TV, including World Business Review with General Norman Schwarzkopf, in Inc. Magazine, Selling Power Magazine, Sales & Marketing Management Magazine and Incentive Magazine. He is the author of Mindless Selling and Baseline Selling – How to Become a Sales Superstar by Using What You Already Know about the Game of Baseball. He created and wrote STAR, a proprietary recruiting process for hiring great salespeople, and he writes Understanding the Sales Force, a popular business Blog and is a contributing author to The Death of 20th Century Selling and 101 Great Ways to Improve Your Life, Volume 2. - Visit Dave Kurlan's Website |
|||
Leanne Hoagland-SmithAre your sales where you want them to be? Will you be one of the few who achieves sales or business success or one of the many who have failed to change? Are you tired of being told you are like everyone else? Then you may find my first book on sales of interest. Be the Red Jacket in the Sea of Gray Suits, The Keys to Unlocking Sales available at Amazon or at http://www.processspecialist.com/red-jacket.htm. This book is a reflection of my no-nonsense approach to improving sales to overall business results. If you are truly committed to making sustainable changes, then I can help you secure a positive return on your investment because I focus on executable solutions not telling you the problems you already know you have. From training to corporate (group) coaching to executive one on one coaching, my approach is to assess, create awareness, build a goal driven action plan and then execute. The bottom line question is "Not do you or your employees know it, but do you or they want to do it?" Please call for a free strategy session at 219.759.5601. - Visit Leanne Hoagland-Smith's Website |
|||
John BrennanJohn Brennan Ed.D. Dr. Brennan is President of Interpersonal Development, LLC, a training and development firm. Interpersonal Development has provided sales training and coaching to more than 3,000 sales reps from over 100 companies. A native of Australia, Dr. Brennan received his doctorate from the University of Rochester. His dissertation researched the effectiveness of Behavioral Modeling Technology in training people in interpersonal skills. While he has spent most of his career designing or delivering training, he was also a Vice-President of Sales of a training and development franchise with operations in 25 markets. Dr. Brennan has designed and delivered sales training in North America, Asia, Europe, Australia and the Middle East. He has been a guest speaker at numerous national and regional professional conferences. When Microsoft wanted Best Practices articles on sales for their web site, they called Dr. Brennan. The results are at http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/FX011387391033.aspx His firm’s clients have included Volvo, The Prudential, Merrill Lynch, Eastman Kodak, Gannett, Equifax Europe, the Economist Group and countless small businesses. - Visit John Brennan's Website |
|||
George LudwigGeorge Ludwig is a recognized authority on sales strategy and peak performance psychology. An international speaker, trainer, and corporate consultant, he helps clients like Johnson & Johnson, Abbott Laboratories, Northwestern Mutual, CIGNA, and numerous others improve sales force effectiveness and performance. Though it's George's strategies and processes that help corporations increase productivity and performance, it's his tremendous energy and dynamism that spark the transformation. Again and again, clients remark on his amazing ability to unleash human capacity and inspire men and women to break out of their comfort zones. The result is a whole new type of salesperson. His customized presentations teach achievers to make stunning advances in their lives. From helping salespeople realize cherished dreams to helping corporations exponentially accelerate revenue streams, George Ludwig leaves audiences and individuals empowered, emboldened, and clamoring for more. George is the best-selling author of Power Selling: Seven Strategies for Cracking the Sales Code and Wise Moves: 60 Quick Tips to Improve Your Position in Life & Business. - Visit George Ludwig's Website |
|||
Anne BarrAnne Barr has over 26 years experience in sales and marketing, six years as a franchisee. She has assisted over 367 business owners and purchasers to achieve their goals in career change, transition and exit strategy. She holds the designation of Certified Franchise Executive from the International Franchise Association, Certified Business Intermediary from the International Business Brokers Association and Board Certified Broker from the Texas Association of Business Brokers. Anne is active in professional organizations, networking groups and volunteers for non-profit entities. As owner/operator of four successful businesses, Anne has proven people skills and enjoys helping clients find the right "fit" in business ownership. Visit www.FranchiseOpportunitySpecialist.com for more information about me and my company. - Visit Anne Barr's Website |
|||
|
To learn more about the Evan Elite Author Program please contact us. | |||
 | |
|  |
Subscribe to Jennifer's articles
 | |
|
|  |
 | |
|
| |
 | |||||||
|
 | ||
|
||
 |
||
 |
||
|
| ||
 |
| Have you written articles that would be of value to entrepreneurs? Become an expert on our site by publishing them! Expose yourself to a wide audience, drive more traffic to your website and get more sales! Click Here for details. |
|
|
 |
| Modeling the Masters: Learn the true secrets behind Walt Disney's business success factors & grow your company! Video produced by Phanta Media |
|
|
 |
"Learn straight from Evan how you can Make a Full Time Income (And More) from a Website"
Click Here To Learn More |
|
|
|
|
Get advice & tips from famous business owners, new articles by entrepreneur experts, my latest website updates, & special sneak peaks at what's to come!
|
|
|
 Emotions Drive Behavior New Year Revolutions Instant Press Release Make Attitude Your Ally Mirror Marketing |
|
 | ||
 |
Guide To ERP Software
Business Management Software | |
 |
Top 50 Blogs For Startups
Top Blogs To Watch In 2008 | |
| ||
 | ||||
| ||||
|
| ||||
| ||||
|
|
|
|
|
||||||||||||
|
Email us your ideas on how to make our website more valuable! Thank you Sharon from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for your suggestions to make the newsletter look like the website and profile younger entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez and Sean Combs!
|
|
|
| ||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||