Actually, no, let's not call the whole thing off, let's clear this up once and for all. Many people capitalize spiffs claiming it to be an acronym for "Special Purpose Incentive for Field Force" or any one of several possible acronyms. Let's be clear - it does not stand for ANYTHING. At best it is... Continue Reading →
Many of us are following work from home guidance right now and, even for those used to working remotely, day after day of solitary confinement can get to the best of us. Here are my top 5 tips for making the best of it: 1. Schedule time to video chat with your colleagues These days,... Continue Reading →
This is exactly what Jacob Gonik set out to achieve for IBM Brazil in the 1970s. The starting point is that if we want an effective sales plan, there needs to be some notion of expectation in the form of a goal or quota. The challenge, as most of us know, is knowing what that... Continue Reading →
I hear this usage a lot, "Maybe we can give them an MBO" or "I'd like to include MBOs in the plan". However, this doesn't really make sense so permit me a short rant if you will. MBO stands for "Management By Objectives" which means it isn't a measure, it is a process. The approach... Continue Reading →
These two approaches are both job leveling frameworks that can be used independently or can also work together in tandem. Job evaluation uses a codified approach to assign points to a role based on its relative worth in an organization which in turn can be aligned to a salary structure. Examples include Hay Grades or... Continue Reading →
The debate around the use of thresholds is perennial and it's fair to say that it's one of the areas of sales comp where common practice varies a fair amount between regions. The argument in favor of a threshold goes something like this - "why would I pay a salesperson to underachieve? We'll create a minimum... Continue Reading →
As I touched on recently, there are all manner of approaches to managing base pay but I wanted to write a bit about the differences between these two common approaches. Global grading Global grading (also known as globally leveled, or sometimes just a "broad-banded" salary structure) generally refers to the approach where a single set... Continue Reading →
Job matching is at the heart of successful compensation assessments and one of the most repeated mantras here is "match the role not the person". All too often when going through the job matching process or when viewing matches, I hear something like "well the job is a level 3 but the team really isn't... Continue Reading →
Who remembers those triangles in maths lessons that helped you remember how to calculate one variable given the two others? Essentially you cover up one corner of the triangle then the remaining two variables dictate whether to multiply or divide the remaining two, to give you the missing number. Since I had the memory of... Continue Reading →
A key decision point when establishing a compensation philosophy is the degree to which salary structures are oriented around market rates vs individual performance. At one end of the spectrum, we have broad salary ranges around a relatively limited number of pay grades throughout the organization. The arguments in favor are that while the market... Continue Reading →