Comments on: How do you design a high impact goal system?

By: Chris Ferdinandi

Chris Ferdinandi — Sun, 26 Jul 2009 18:24:50 +0000

@Yeelder – Thanks for the interesting perspective. I think your comment about individualized rewards is a really good one – different people value different things. Having managers who understand what motivates their people is essential!

By: Yeelder

Yeelder — Sun, 26 Jul 2009 16:30:22 +0000

It seems to me it depends on whether you subscribe to theory x or theory y, based on the analysis done by Douglas McGregor at MIT. If you give bonuses for doing the assigned job, then you have a culture where you believe employees only do what is coerced out of them and you feel that innovation is unlikely or undesirable. If you give bonuses for doing extraordinary things, then you are encouraging extraordinary things, but trying to regiment quarterly innovations is also shown to be unrealistic. Numerous studies have shown that unexpected bonuses given regularly for extraordinary work leads to extraordinary efforts. Goals should be set, but bonuses should never be paid for simply meeting goals, instead, bonuses should be paid for exceeding goals. The downside to this is that there must be leaders within the ranks of management to create the right culture for innovation and who are able to craft appropriate rewards on a case by case basis. Sometimes an extra day or two of vacation and tickets to a family/couple focused event is more appreciated than a check with no time to spend it.

By: ReviewSNAP

ReviewSNAP — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 14:33:23 +0000

In my experience there isn’t a right way or a wrong way to do it. It’s all a matter of what fits the needs of your company. However, I prefer to have both competencies and goals be the measure of success for employees. Competencies measure the everyday responsibilities of employees whereas goals measure both the above and beyond achievements of an employee, but also includes competency improvements. It’s all about the company and their process.