With fall on the horizon, it is time to think about your company’s sales compensation plans for 2021. This will likely prove to be a more challenging prospect than past years due to the historical events of 2020.

Indeed, the Conference Board has estimated that Gross Domestic Product will contract by 7% for the full year 2020. And according to the WorldatWork’s 2020 Sales Compensation Programs & Practices Report, only 30% of participating businesses say that half of their organization’s sales teams will hit quota in 2020.

Photo courtesy of Pixabay

Most of us recognize that the nation’s economic woes will not go away easily or quickly and that we are living with a much higher degree of uncertainty and risk. In this environment, your sales compensation planning requires thoughtful consideration to motivate and retain your top salespeople. Here are several important steps you can take:

1) Establish a Sales Incentive Design Team

Include representatives from sales management, marketing, finance, and human resources. All members have significant interests in a successful sales organization. Sales management is, of course, responsible for implementing the program and reporting back on what they learn in the field. Marketing brings the linkage between corporate strategy and sales strategy.

Finance is concerned about the cost of sales compensation and return on investment, calculating as a percentage of revenue over time. The finance department also will evaluate the numbers of sales personnel related to quota attainment. Human resources will contribute to the design of the plans reward system so that the sales positions are motivated. They will also want to match hiring with role requirements.

2) Align Sales Incentives with the Company’s Business Strategy

Your sales compensation plan does not exist in a vacuum. It needs to be closely aligned with an organization’s business and marketing strategies and goals. Also, the plan must address both internal and external forces impacting the sales job and selling practices.

3) Calibrate the Plans to the Various Sales Roles

A common practice for many companies is to set the same percentage of base salary as the target performance for all jobs involved in the sales process. This is a mistake.

Instead, carefully analyze the role each sales position has in the overall sales process. Both impact and influence on the final customer decision must be considered. This analysis then becomes the input to determining the right pay mix for each job.

Photo courtesy of Pixabay

4) De-Risk Plan Design

In a high-risk business climate, it makes sense to reduce the risk and leverage in incentives. This means less upside and downside and less incremental payout per unit of incremental performance. You can achieve this by implementing:

  • Flatter payout curves, and
  • Lower maximum and minimum payouts. For example, adjust target payout ranges of between 50% and 200% to between 25% and 150%.

5) Set Fewer Goals

The WorldatWork’s Compensation survey finds that organizations are simplifying their incentive plans. On average, organizations are using up to three performance measures. Those using just one performance measure increased by 71%. Other strategic performance metrics are also more in play, such as penetration of existing accounts, acquisition of new accounts, and building account relationships. Since the pandemic has made customer relationships more complex, the need for more frequent communication and feedback with customers is more important than ever before.

6) Automate Sales Compensation Processes

A surprising number of organizations still manually conduct Sales Performance Management (SPM), 32% according to the WorldatWork survey. Of course, the use of third-party SPM greatly enhances accuracy and is time saving. In addition, using third-party Customer Relationship Management (CRM) helps you to organize sales activities and communicate more easily with your sales team, a practice employed by 45% of survey respondents.

Sales Management in Tough Times

In today’s challenging economic environment, sales managers who help their teams develop alternative ways to approach and build relationships with their customers and prospects will be more successful. Invest in training and mentoring programs to develop leadership skills, behavioral competencies, and organizational awareness.

About Lappley & Associates

Lappley & Associates is a management consulting firm advising manufacturers, service companies, utilities and non-profits about how to get the maximum return from their compensation programs and deliver on their organizations’ strategic vision.

Services include: Reward Strategy Development; Executive Compensation; Incentive Compensation; Salesforce Compensation; Base Salary Structures; and Market Pricing.

Contact Us

To discuss your sales compensation concerns, contact Tim Weizer at tjweizer@gmail.com or (312) 479-6411 or Neil Lappley at nlappley@lappley.com or (847) 921-2812.

Changes to executive pay packages during the COVID-19 pandemic have been swift, revealing stark differences in how boards approach compensation for public and privately held companies. Many executives at public companies reliant on annual and long-term incentives (LTIs) are facing significant pay cuts in the wake of dwindling profits with more economic uncertainty ahead. For stable or growing privately held companies, this presents a buying opportunity to attract and capitalize on executive talent with the right compensation strategy.

Executive Pay Practices

Media coverage based on filings and disclosures required for public companies along with say on pay votes ensures most people are familiar with executive pay practices at public companies. This publicity and the large role played by proxy advisors has resulted in a standardization of executive compensation in public companies as no one seems to want to stand out. To play it safe, public companies typically target the market median with stock performance the largest component of pay results.

Photo courtesy of Pixabay

Private companies, on the other hand, without the limitations of public exposure can implement more creative pay programs that are crafted to each organization’s unique circumstances. With stock performance a non-factor, other innovative measures including non-financial metrics can play a more meaningful role.

Although pay practices for both public and private companies vary significantly depending upon the industry and type of ownership, all are designed to attract and retain top-notch talent. For private companies, this means making pay sufficient for the quality of executive they are seeking and aligned with the values and goals the organization has established.

However, in our current, challenging business climate, private companies have the distinct advantage of being more flexible, agile, and inclusive than their publicly traded counterparts. In that sense, it may be a golden opportunity to seek where the grass may be greener to upgrade or expand executive ranks.

The Elements of Executive Pay

Public company executive compensation is comprised of three components: base salary, annual or short-term incentives (STIs) and long-term incentives (LTIs). In public companies, incentives dominate executive pay, including annual incentives and long-term, equity-based incentives. Further, in public companies LTIs are the largest component of compensation.

In contrast, private company pay centers on cash compensation, emphasizing base salary and annual incentives. Cash pay is often positioned above the market median, with low or no LTI opportunity. However, this trend is changing as more private companies offer more incentive-based compensation as reported in the Compensation Advisory Board (CAP) and WorldatWork 2019 survey of Incentive Pay Practices.

Executive Pay Components

  Base Salary Annual or Short-Term Incentives Long-Term Incentives
Public Companies 1) 20% of compensation package
2) Some are temporarily reducing base salaries
1) Financial incentives tied to key performance metrics
2) Sustainable Impact measures: Environmental, social and governance
3) Seeing reductions of 25% to 50% of the current plan target opportunity
1) Some adjusting targets on a year-by-year approach
2) Others extending the performance period
Private Companies 1) Stressed
2) One-third to half of compensation
1) Financial measures: profitability and revenue
2) Individual performance common
3) Threshold payment about 50%; maximum payout is 150% to 200% of target opportunity
1) 60% offer LTIs
2) Cash-based plans most common
3) Phantom stock, or real stock vehicles added by minority of companies

Add LTIs to the Pay Mix

Long-term incentives are fast becoming a growing element of executive compensation for private companies. They are essential to attract talent in competition with public companies where LTIs are common. In addition, LTIs play a major role in company retention strategies and to motivate executives to achieve long-term objectives.

Photo courtesy of Pixabay

For owners at private companies, they must thoughtfully consider if and how they are willing to share ownership in the enterprise with other executives. In addition, they should consider succession plans and future liquidation or merger opportunities depending on their long-term plans for the business.

A typical sharing percentage range is between 5% -10%. Phantom stock is another vehicle often used, although these programs require sophisticated valuing studies and strong communications support. A final option is a long-term cash plan. This requires solid financial planning and transparency of key financials.

Benchmark for Success

Executive pay has come under increased scrutiny in the current business climate. New attitudes about work and pay practices are being shaped by the pandemic, as well as social and cultural trends in an election year like no other. Executives seeking to make meaningful contributions may find even greater opportunity at private companies embracing innovative strategies and pay practices. Private companies recruiting new talent can cast a wider net and utilize benchmarks for non-traditional sources and their market competitors.

Photo courtesy of Pixabay

Still, benchmarking in a rapidly changing business environment can be challenging, making salary projections more obscure. Regardless, the quality of survey data obtained for an executive search must meet high standards. Survey sources should be carefully examined to ensure data cuts are available based on industry and size, which are closely related to the level of executive compensation.

Summary

With less public scrutiny and fewer regulatory hurdles, private companies have more freedom to make proposed changes in creative ways that balance stakeholder interests, improve employee morale and boost the bottom line. Executives at public companies may be ready for a change if an opportunity promises a promotion or broader role or one with more autonomy and more responsibility.

Yes, pay will certainly be an important piece of the equation. However, at a time when job losses in the top ranks may be considerable, enterprising private companies should view this as a recruiting opportunity to build on for the future.

Contact Us

For help or information on this topic, you can email me at nlappley@lappley.com or call (847) 921-2812.

When we look back, 2020 will long be remembered as a year of massive change for business and industry on a scale not seen before.

The COVID-19 pandemic has plunged our economy into a global recession and put health and wellness at the center of workplace conversations. Worldwide protests supporting the #BlackLivesMatter movement have joined #MeToo voices urging meaningful community action on discrimination, pay equity, and inclusion.

In response, organizations are making significant changes to their business models and accelerating the adoption of Environmental, Social and Governess (ESG) criteria to guide business investment and decision-making. They recognize that their organizations’ stakeholders are motivated by more than a goal for increased revenues and profits; other success metrics include environmental, social responsibility, gender, and racial diversity measures to track progress on social and economic purpose. Some are calling this new integrated approach to corporate governance stakeholder capitalism.

In tandem with these changes, proactive CEOs and HR professionals are taking a step back to reassess their compensation programs, so they align with a more purpose-driven business model. This is an opportunity to transform massive challenges into meaningful change, but it will require a thoughtful and strategic compensation approach that looks at the following:

1) Assess critical job skills. Quite likely, as the result of an updated business model, critical skill jobs have changed. They should be identified and monitored for pay competitiveness. These employees are most susceptible to being recruited away.

For instance, purchasing professionals are dealing with disruptions in their supply chains, especially in manufacturing. Sourcing from India and China has become problematic during the pandemic. Employees that can fill supply chain gaps are highly valued and in great demand. Employers may need to prioritize their investments in these job skills even when resources are scarce.

2) Revisit your compensation strategy. This flows from the company’s purpose and business strategy and is part of the organization’s overall HR strategy. To the extent that your business model has changed, compensation strategy must also follow the organization’s purpose or why it exists. A recent Compensation Alert here takes you through the elements of establishing your strategy. A critical part of your updated strategy will be to reestablish your benchmark of competitive and comparable organizations, update your current competitiveness levels and determine your targeted level of competitiveness.

3) Take a fresh look at pay equity. Many employers have implemented pay equity analyses to identify whether they have gender or race-based compensation gaps. They have done this to promote fairness, retain talent, and mitigate risk. If you have not done a pay equity analysis already, you should begin the effort soon. If you have, dig deep into the data to determine what is driving pay disparity: the actions of certain managers or decision-makers; out-of-date policies or business practices; or unconscious biases within a division or department. You can learn more about Pay Equity and The Rules of Engagement here.

4) Review base salary and incentive plans. Many companies have taken salary actions in the wake of the COVID-19 health crisis. These include pay cuts, cancelled salary increases or freezes, delayed or deferred annual salary increases, and adjusted planned average salary increases. In addition, organizations have suspended promotional increases or added additional pay for essential work (often called hazard or hero pay), while others have reduced or suspended benefit programs. As the economy improves, business leaders must determine when and under what conditions salary actions taken during the health crisis will be lifted or withdrawn.

It is too early to forecast levels of average merit increases for 2021. It is more likely, however, that more companies will not be giving salary increases next year. Even more, this will vary by industry and region, so it is prudent to develop a good idea of what your competitors will be targeting.

Incentive plans have also taken a hit from the pandemic, as organizations have modified their short-term and annual incentive programs by reducing opportunity, deferring or delaying payments, and adjusting performance targets. Changes to long-term plans have been less prevalent. Consider the following actions:

  • Short-term plans: As you plan for the second half of the year and revenue and profit expectations crystalize, consider: increasing the use of management discretion in determining 2020 incentive/bonuses; changing performance measures consistent with repurposing of the company; and lowering performance targets, maximums and thresholds. Additionally, revisit base payouts on second half performance against second half goals.
  • Long-term plans: Take no actions for the next several months. Consider adjusting performance targets if goals become unattainable.

5) Do not overlook your sales force. The COVID-19 pandemic had a great effect on sales organizations. Orders for commercial and industrial goods were curtailed. Falling orders meant less revenue for sellers for sales compensation credit. Our work with clients indicates that most companies have implemented pay protection methods to replace some or all lost sales incentives for sellers. The most popular methods include pay guarantees, quota reductions and formula changes.

It is time to reset for the balance of the year. Sellers need to be reengaged to reactivate suspended opportunities and find new revenue. A good time to start fresh is July 1st, the start of the last half of the fiscal year for many organizations. But at the same time, discontinue pay protection programs. The sooner you are beyond pay protection programs the better. Consider the following actions to fast-track sales revenue:

  1. Redo quotas: Continued uncertainty will make it difficult to project expected revenue for the second half of the year. However, take into account new avenues for revenue based on your adapted business model as well as revenue purchasing customer patterns. Develop stretch goals.
  2. Review payout formulas: Thresholds, incentive rates, accelerators and caps should be reviewed.
  3. Jump start incentives: As an add on, use a combination of contests and spiffs to add excitement, and motivation. Provide both cash and non-cash awards. Keep the jump start short – a maximum of three months.

In Conclusion

Uncertainty and change will be the hallmarks for organizations during the remainder of 2020 and into 2021. Short of a crystal ball, prudent planning to address the workplace issues of our time is your best bet to make your culture stronger and better equipped for future growth.

Despite current economic hardships, visionary business leaders who understand where and how to prioritize investments in talent will seize the opportunity to recruit the best and the brightest for the road ahead.

Contact Us

To discuss how to adjust your organization’s compensation strategy and develop more meaningful benchmarks and metrics to make your workplace stronger, please contact Neil Lappley at (847) 921-2812 or nlappley@lappleiy.com.

In today’s whiplash economic climate, short- and long-term strategic plans for many businesses have been disrupted as executives shift priorities. No doubt, the inconstancy we are seeing in market dynamics will challenge executive decision-making in the months ahead. Despite these risks — or perhaps because of them — now is the time to reassess your organization’s future HR investment optimization approach.

Photo courtesy of Pixabay

To address important health and financial interests, organizations have rightly taken short-term steps to ensure their employees’ well-being, adjust spending to keep the business intact, respond to community concerns, and take care of their customers. These approaches should have a positive short-term impact as businesses seek to find the right balance in the current health crisis.

Over the long-term, forward-thinking organizations will focus on more than just getting back to business. They must also adapt to changing customer needs and consumer behaviors that will remain even after a recovery is well underway. And so, in manufacturing, for example, we may see an acceleration to AI and robotics for safety and economic reasons.

Under these circumstances, it may be tempting for CHROs to use traditional justifications for their HR investments: improving program costs, productivity gains and revenue increases. But such an approach is short-sighted. There is another way.

Systematic HR Investment Optimization

Gartner, Inc. has developed a Systematic Decision Framework designed to evaluate a full range of criteria to influence HR investment optimization strategies. For each option considered, Gartner uses eight criteria so that managers can weigh potential outcomes and prioritize each one. This tool provides a richer approach to decision-making.

In the example following we look at how the framework can be applied to a family owned consumer goods company based in the Midwest.

Background: As part of the company’s four-year strategic plan, the management team intends to launch several new products and shift its focus from restaurant services to the ecommerce consumer marketplace. This shift is based on a market research study finding that 70% of consumers in their product category prefer shopping online, while demand for their restaurant services is falling off. The company’s goal is to increase revenues 60% and EBITA 80% in the four-year span.

In addition, to jump-start its new business plan, the company will acquire a battery manufacturer and invest significantly in product engineering, new manufacturing capabilities and equipment, and a new consumer-oriented salesforce. Investments will also be made in new warehouse and shipping space. Manufacturing will also build on its prior robotics experience, a three-year investment.

Photo courtesy of Pixabay

This will be a major transformation requiring strong leadership and new hires in product development, manufacturing, marketing, and sales. HR will be the pivot point for maintaining harmonious relations with labor, salaried and hourly employees.

An advisory board has approved the four-year strategic plan including business targets and financial requirements. Management now wants to gain board approval for implementing the executive long-term incentive plan.

Key Activities: The company has identified three objectives for its long-term incentive program:

  • Align long-term incentives with long-term company objectives.
  • Share financial success of the company with key employees.
  • Reward employees for their contributions to achieving the company’s strategic goals.

Analysis: To align with its new direction, we are using the Gartner Systematic Decision Framework to arrive at a sound strategy. The strategic analysis looks not only at cost savings and productivity gains, but also at the required investment, implementation time, associated risks, and the impact your choices may have on employee experience.

For our case study, an evaluation of one alternative HR investing optimization approach might look like this:

Benefit & Impact
Strategic RelevanceHigh. Initiative is critical for achieving strategic organizational objectives.
Cost Savings & Productivity GainsMedium. Strategic goals can be achieved without the long-term plan. However, incentives and communicating measures reinforce goal achievement.
Business ImpactPositive: Supports achieving long-term strategic initiatives.
Impact on Employee ExperiencePositive. For executives; likely none for other employees.
Investment, Time, & Risk
Investment RequirementLow/None. The program pays for itself when strategic goals are reached.
Time RequirementLong-term. Objectives will be realized upon full implementation.
HR Service Delivery RiskModerate. HR will be expected to communicate the plan and provide periodic updates. HR will be instrumental in supporting four-year plan achievement.
Stakeholder Buy-InLow/None. The initiative is initiated by HR with strong senior management buy-in. Board approval is encouraged and expected.

Takeaways: Much like a classic risk analysis, managers using this systematic approach for each alternative considered can carefully evaluate and prioritize each investment opportunity. This applies big-picture, three-dimensional thinking to a traditional analysis and sets the stage for a sustainable optimization roadmap that delivers on expectations. In fact, this approach is applicable to any HR initiative and a useful tool throughout.

Summary

During times of economic uncertainty, a top priority is to get your financial house in order. Still, it is important to assess cost optimization initiatives and their long-term ramifications in a smart, strategic way. Different cost measures carry different risks.

Taking a systematic approach that factors in both the positive and negative consequences of potential initiatives will help CHROs develop HR programs that maximize business outcomes while minimizing risks.

Gartner

To help business leaders and managers with advice, insights and tools, Gartner developed the Systematic Decision Framework to balance value creation with cost-cutting measures. You can learn more about the topic here.

Let’s Connect

If you have questions about this or another HR compensation topic, please contact Neil Lappley at (847) 921-2812 or nlappley@lappley.com. In addition, please share or pass this article along to anyone you think may find it of interest.

Chances are when companies large and small developed their salesforce incentive plans for 2020, in no way did they envision the unprecedented challenges to come with the global COVID-19 pandemic.

In the current climate, salespeople — many who rely on variable pay programs tied to once more attainable business goals — may be filled with anxiety about their ability to meet or exceed benchmarks. Their total annual income could suffer as prospects for a solid financial future become less certain.

Photo courtesy of Pixabay

From the customers’ point of view, they may not need what your salespeople are selling right now. But they will when the economy rebounds. Nurturing and retaining the trust of loyal customers becomes job number one for salespeople in this scenario, but that approach may be counter to the design of a variable pay program.

The economic impact of the coronavirus has been swift and deep, so adapting your salesforce incentive plans for the remainder of the calendar year is advisable. In cases where the current performance level is less than 25% of the target performance level, it is imperative. Here are some reasonable approaches to consider so that your company is in the best position when the recovery comes:

Actionable Options

Since there is not a one-size-fits-all recommendation that will work for every organization, it is important to consider a variety of approaches, then weigh the pros and cons for each strategy.

1) Straight commission: based solely on sales achieved.

This pay-for-performance approach may look attractive on paper, but even in a robust economy only about 20% of businesses are using a straight commission plan. A draw against commissions is part of this option.

PROS

  • Easy for management to set the commission rate and execute.
  • Simple for salespeople to calculate if the plan is communicated well.
  • Acceptable to Finance Department as clear “pay for performance.”

CONS

  • Research shows that older salespeople want income stability versus a high-income opportunity. Younger salespeople tend to be more risk taking. Depending on the age profile of your sales team, it may be difficult to find the right balance.
  • May improperly promote the message SELL ANYTHING versus what the customer really needs. Not only does this potentially damage the customer relationship, it also hinders management’s desire to upsell premium products.
  • Can create increased anxiety among the salesforce while motivation decreases.

2) Adjusted straight salary.

This option replaces bonus/incentive payouts with a temporary base salary increase of 12-15%. Companies need to rethink the overall sales goal and recalibrate individual sales goals.

Photo courtesy Pixabay

PROS

  • Provides income stability in these uncertain times.
  • Adjustment percentage is a function of current bonus/inceptive plan specifics.
  • Once established, the plan is easy to administer.

CONS

  • Removes motivation among salespeople to meet or exceed sales goals.
  • Could have a ripple effect across other management groups or sales teams who may seek a similar arrangement.
  • May be hard to return to the old incentive plan once the sales period ends.

3) Guaranteed threshold income.

Each salesperson is guaranteed the threshold incentive dollars for the time period. The incentive or bonus plan stays in place as is so that any incentive earned above the threshold level would be paid out.

PROS

  • Maintains motivation of sales force while achieving income stability.
  • Easy to administer and communicate.
  • Can be extended into the next calendar year with ease, if warranted.

CONS

  • Not every culture will embrace the idea of guaranteed incentive income for all salespeople.
  • Guaranteed income may be unacceptable for companies facing insolvency or bankruptcy.

4) Guaranteed threshold income plus innovation bonus.

This option guarantees incentives at the threshold level and offers incentives for those creating new revenue streams.

PROS

  • Taps into the creativity of your employees to generate new ideas for growth and reasonable cost reduction.
  • Aligns everyone with the company vision, mission and values in a way that promotes “we’re all in this together.”
  • Gives salesforce a reason to seek input/feedback from customers on how they can better serve their needs.

CONS

  • Often difficult to judge the value of new ideas or to quickly implement.
  • Any bonus would need to be significant and reward employees for their entrepreneurial spirit.
  • Could be demoralizing for some companies or lead to confusion if no ideas are implemented or if the execution is botched.

5) Index performance: resets incentive performance target and payout.

In this scenario, the company shifts the incentive performance/incentive payout to reflect the median current performance level while maintaining the performance distribution. The current median performance result becomes the target/100% performance result.

Photo courtesy Pixabay

PROS

  • Provides a tailored approach for the entire salesforce or to each company division.
  • Easy to implement and execute with the proper communication and documentation.
  • Appealing to top performers, unless management limits the upside of incentive earnings payout or makes major downward earnings adjustment at year’s end.

CONS

  • May create uncertainty around benchmarks and indexes for next year if sales come back stronger than expected.
  • Incentive payout winners may feel they have nowhere to go but down in 2021, so they seek employment elsewhere.

Summary

Unlike other business downturns, this one has no precedent. This makes developing a plan for recovery that leverages the talents of your salesforce and keeps them motivated more important than ever. After all, the prospect of rebuilding your sales team from scratch after the worst is over may leave you further behind the eight ball.
Don’t wait. Act now. Your salesforce and your customers will thank you.

Contact Us

If you have questions about this or another salesforce compensation topic, please contact Tim Weizer at (614) 500-0509 or timweizer@msn.com. You can reach Neil Lappley at (847) 921-2812 or nlappley@lappley.com. In addition, please share or pass this article along to anyone you think may find it of interest.

Sometimes great advice comes from our peers and respected colleagues. This is why networking, panel discussions and webinars are such powerful business education tools.

With that in mind, this issue of Compensation Alert shares expert insights from a diverse group of human resource (HR), management consulting, compensation and employee retention leaders. We asked them for feedback on three key questions impacting hiring and compensation management decisions in 2020. Our experts include:

  • David Gilmartin, managing director at Patina Solutions, a management consulting firm that partners with organizations to fill a key expertise or resource gap.
  • Jeff Kortes, an employee retention consultant, author and speaker. Jeff is founder of Human Asset Management.
  • Aaron Schneider, managing director of the Petenwell Group, an executive search and employee retention firm.
  • Rena Somersan, president of the Milwaukee Area Compensation Association (MACA). Rena also is the Newport Group’s managing principal, compensation consulting services.

Of course, HR compensation consultant Neil Lappley, founder of Lappley & Associates and publisher of this newsletter, also weighs in.

Here are Your Three Questions and Answers From our Top Experts:

1) What do you think will happen with wages, salaries and benefits this year?

Salaries will continue to increase; part of that is driven by what everyone is calling the “labor shortage.” Benefits will remain the same. Aaron Schneider

Wages and benefits will (increase) at a higher rate; lowest-worker wages will finally start to push the next tier of worker wages up. Middle-level managers will see wages go up at a rate lower than the lowest tier because (they) tend not to leave and (so) are subject to the “salary pool budget.” Jeff Kortes

Photo courtesy Pixabay

Wages will remain flat this year. With the state (of Wisconsin) not making changes to minimum wage, that alleviates the short-term risk.

Still, (there is) concern changes (will be) made for 2021 and beyond or at the federal level. David Gilmartin

Our market intelligence suggests that 2020 wage growth for production, professional (non-management), management, and executive job classifications will remain largely unchanged from the prior year, hovering between 2.8% and 2.9%. While we do not anticipate sweeping changes in benefit plan offerings for 2020, employers are modifying their benefit plans to entice younger workers. (Offerings include) tuition forgiveness, flexible schedules, and richer parental leaves of absence. Rena Somersan

Median salary increases will be flat at median 3.0% and average at 3.2%. Assuming the Consumer Price Index increases by 2.3% as projected by the International Monetary Fund, real salary increases will be .7%, the lowest level in 40 years. Neil Lappley

2) What are the biggest HR challenges facing your clients? What have you been hearing from them?

Recruiting and retention (are) the biggest challenge(s) and will be for the next decade at least. My manufacturing clients are still afraid to raise prices, but when they have gotten past that they have been making (prices) stick by telling clients they (can’t) keep talent if they are not competitive with compensation. When the argument is presented in this way, customers accept the increases. Jeff Kortes

No question the two biggest challenges facing management are retention and recruiting. Companies are expanding their sources for new workers and are paying more attention to taking care of current employees. For HR and compensation professionals, emphasis is being placed on pay equity and pay transparency. Neil Lappley

Photo courtesy Pixabay

Employee retention and hiring are my clients’ biggest challenges. The availability of skilled laborers is a significant risk in Wisconsin and beyond, especially with our strong manufacturing base. There is also concern for finding leadership and technology skilled resources. One example: Milwaukee Tool needs to find almost 800 (new) employees as they continue to expand in SE Wisconsin. David Gilmartin

Our clients and members of MACA are concerned about executive talent flight. The job market is hot for skilled executives who possess the managerial fortitude to lead organizations through major transformations in today’s increasingly competitive global economy. Rena Somersan

The pressure is on to review systems and processes. Many HR managers are under increased pressure to increase benefits, find candidates for job openings, and (improve) employee engagement. These managers are noticing that some of the same systems that worked for the last several years are changing. Aaron Schneider

3) What would you advise your clients – especially small and mid-sized businesses – who are having trouble hiring and retaining top talent in the current business climate?

As companies struggle to differentiate rewards and recognize excellent employee performance, they are increasingly turning to incentive compensation, both in number of programs and numbers of eligible participants. At the same time, employers are relying on gig workers to fill employment gaps in the tight labor market.

In addition, to capture and retain talent, employers are personalizing employee benefits – not necessarily high-cost perks – that align with their culture, offer greater flexibility and work-life balance. Neil Lappley

My advice it to take advantage of firms like (ours) who (can provide) experienced professionals who are willing to work in interim and project-based roles with clients. Businesses need to look beyond the Wisconsin state border; (Patina Solutions) has access to those resources and the ability to expedite the hiring process for our clients. David Gilmartin

Increasingly, executives at SMBs are being hired by larger companies. These larger companies likely have long-term incentive (LTI) programs in place to attract, retain, and reward executives for their contributions to the business. LTI programs provide actual or pseudo “ownership” in the firm and typically comprise a large portion of the executive’s total direct compensation package.

Photo courtesy Pixabay

To maintain a competitive edge, SMBs should determine whether their executive compensation programs provide a long-term incentive opportunity for key executives. The LTI opportunity should be aligned with the company’s strategic plan and future growth goals, and it should provide monetary rewards commensurate with performance and appropriate levels of risk taking. Even if SMBs cannot provide “ownership” in the traditional sense (i.e., equity), several cash-based program types might be considered. Rena Somersan

Hire where you are at. Meaning, in small and mid-sized organizations, it is important to hire people that fit your current organization, but maybe can take you where you’re going. (This also means not hiring) someone outside of your current capabilities. If you are focused on the ideal candidate and not getting jobs filled, shift to hiring candidates that fit the culture and be ready to train them up on the needed skills. Aaron Schneider

Focus on retention. In my case, I tell them to pay competitively and “Give their Employees C.R.A.P.”  (Caring, Respect, Appreciation, and Praise). Develop a strategy to retain people (versus) trying to recruit people. Jeff Kortes

Do you have more questions about where wages, compensation and benefits are heading in the current economic climate? Or would you like to connect with any of our Q&A contributors? If so, please contact Neil Lappley at (847) 921-2812 or nlappley@lappley.com.

Identifying the right talent for your organization’s long-term success is a business imperative. To tap into this talent pool, many companies invest in High Potential Employee (HIPO) compensation programs to develop and retain their most promising future leaders. Researchers from MIT and Harvard have found that companies can consistently identify 3-5% of their workforce as HIPOs.

High potential employee compensation programs typically share these priorities:

  • Building a pipeline of talent to fill future company leadership positions,
  • Expanding HIPO skills with new growth opportunities and experiences, and
  • Rewarding high potentials for their development and accomplishments.

As these priorities make clear, high-potential employees require much more than higher compensation to succeed in the workplace. Training and development are equally valued by high potentials. Likewise, employers who cultivate high potentials by creating structured learning environments that also support their business strategies build competitive advantage.

Photo courtesy of Pixabay

Still, at the same time organizations are mentoring and coaching their high potentials, recruiters have your top performers squarely in their sights for their own critical positions. If they choose to leave, these ambitious and motivated employees are difficult and costly to replace. Not only do companies lose their investment in training and development for HIPOs to another employer, they also incur costs to recruit, hire, onboard and train a new employee at many times more than base compensation.

Turnover Takes a Toll

According to the 2019 Mercer Turnover Survey, U.S. companies had an average turnover rate of 22%. This turnover stat reflects s 15% voluntary, 6% involuntary, and 1% retirement rate. Although employers have little input when their employees leave for personal reasons or to pursue an entirely new career, they do have control over what they pay them and how they support growth opportunities.

Employees surveyed by Mercer gave the following reasons for their decision to leave:

To combat turnover and prevent employees from leaving, Mercer reports the two most prevalent employer practices are continuous compensation reviews and regularly looking at engagement.

Rethinking Retention Strategies

Many companies have programs in place to reduce turnover, especially for their top performers. But too often these programs rely exclusively on traditional compensation models designed to Attract, Retain and Motivate (ARM) employees. This plain vanilla approach may not be enough for future leaders and high potentials.

Instead, more businesses are rethinking their HIPO compensation programs to favor engagement and alignment with key strategic goals. These programs reward and promote employees who exhibit the desired behaviors and serve as role models for others. In addition, they include robust measures that address current performance, future potential and talent fit for the organization’s strategic direction and cultural values.

Many of the elements of a HIPO compensation strategy are like your company’s overall compensation approach. However, reciprocating your HIPO employees’ ambitions with greater opportunities for training and advancement helps build value for your firm.

Here are the key planning considerations:

1. Conduct a Competitive Compensation Analysis

For each participant in the high-potential program, conduct a compensation competitiveness review. First compare current compensation to the market for the participant’s current role. Then compare current pay to potential next positions for the participant.

Analysis should include base salary, recent salary increases, bonus/incentive opportunity and history of earnings, total cash compensation and, if currently or potentially eligible, long-term incentive and total compensation. The result of the analysis will highlight the gaps between current compensation, market and likely next positions.

2. Determine Compensation Program Elements

Not surprisingly, pay often determines whether high potentials either leave or stay at your organization. Here are four key areas to consider when putting together your compensation program:

  • Promotions – Promotions typically target an average of 8.5% for most organizations. The more appropriate target for HIPOs should average 12% to 16%, a 50% to 100% increase over current practice.
  • Base salary increases – Salary increases for 2020 for most companies are predicted to average 3.2%. According to PayScale, retention raises are the second highest reason for granting a salary increase. Therefore, for high potentials increase your 2020 salary increase budget from 6.5% to 13.0%, an increase between 100% and 200%. Consider developing a separate salary increase budget for high potentials.
  • Incentive/bonus opportunity – The incentive/bonus opportunity should be increased from 50% to 100%. If the high-potential employee is not currently eligible for participation in an incentive/bonus program, consider establishing a separate plan.
  • Long-term incentives – If the high potential is not currently eligible and a potential new position does include participation, consider including at an appropriate level during the current role.

3. Prepare Your High-Potential Compensation Strategy

Develop a compensation strategy that is unique for each high-potential employee. For most employers this means platforming from their current organization-wide compensation strategy. Most likely this will mean that competitiveness targets will be greater.

For instance, if the corporate targets for base salary and total cash (base plus incentive/bonus) are, respectively, median and 60th percentile, targets for high potentials might be 75th percentile for base and 85th percentile for total cash.

Next, for each high-potential program participant, select one or several options from a combination of promotions, salary increases, incentive/bonus opportunity and, if appropriate long-term incentive participation.

4. Help High Potentials Learn to Lead

From rapidly changing technology developments to managing multi-generational workers, the challenges facing high potentials require specialized problem solving, communication and people skills to bridge the gap between top executives and the front line. You may want to customize your training opportunities to include different elements for emerging and senior leaders. Development programs should build on current skills while strengthening areas for improvement.

High potentials being groomed for senior positions may move quickly between managerial and operational roles to learn other parts of the organization. Their performance feedback should be frequent and consider time in position and ability to make an immediate impact. If assigned to special projects, performance evaluation should include both leadership of the group and individual contributions. Group project quality, timeliness and results all need to be measured.

A variety of training methods ranging from individual coaching to seminars and workshops will help your high potentials make the transition from being an individual contributor to team manager and ultimately senior executive. On-demand resources through online learning and email communications will reinforce the new skills they have acquired as they put their new knowledge into practice.

5. Don’t Forget Performance Management

All too often, managers focused on their day-to-day responsibilities will lean on high performers to carry out their primary responsibilities while neglecting their role as mentor and coach. After all, high potentials are talented, energetic and highly productive contributors. Include a component in your compensation strategy that ensures managers of high potentials offer the guiding experiences so essential to their development.

Summary

High-performance employees are catalysts in the workplace, inspiring others to work harder and more effectively. Your investment in these top performers will have a ripple effect, setting a great example for their teams and raising the bar on performance for colleagues.

Contact Us

If you have questions about how to develop and reward your high potential employees or on other compensation topics, please contact Neil Lappley at (847) 921-2812 or nlappley@lappley.com. In addition, please share or pass this article along to anyone you think may find it of interest.

As we begin a new decade, the challenges facing businesses, executive leadership and HR professionals are growing. From societal changes to digital transformation, the trends shaping organizations have HR responsibilities evolving. These issues require fresh ideas and perspectives.

With that in mind, Compensation Alert will periodically feature guest articles from thought leaders in their fields. Our first is from national speaker and trainer Jeff Kortes, founder of Human Asset Management LLC. Jeff helps organizations recruit, engage, develop and retain talent.

Photo courtesy of Pixabay

Employee retention is the biggest challenge organizations will face in the next decade. The reality is that Baby boomers are retiring at a rate of 10,000 per day. There are simply not enough people to take the spots of the people that are retiring.

Trying to find replacements is difficult and costly, so when you do find them you need to be able to retain them. As an employee retention speaker and trainer, I have worked with organizations to address their employee retention issues. They cite various reasons, including:

The first and most frequent reason is money.

The bottom line is that having a revolving door of people costs an organization a lot. Those costs drop right to the bottom line.

One of my clients, a metal casting company, determined that it was costing them hundreds of thousands of dollars to hire new employees, train them and ramp them up to the point where they were producing quality parts. The owners were turning down sales because they didn’t have a fully staffed plant due to their employee turnover. To address the situation, they took the approach of:

  • Educating managers on what drives employee turnover,
  • Getting managers input on how to address those drivers in their organization, and
  • Taking certain key actions to improve job satisfaction.

These actions helped them reduce turnover by approximately 30% in the six-month period after our employee retention workshop.

Another compelling reason is the stress that employee turnover puts on the people who lead their teams and their departments.

In this case, the supervisors and managers who were leading the people in the organization were so stressed because of the constant turnover that they were experiencing that it was starting to take a toll on them emotionally.

The HR Director and the VP of Operations saw the toll it was taking on these leaders and realized it was not sustainable in the long run. They also realized that the reason that much of the turnover existed was because of the way their supervisors were leading.

As a result, they embarked on a six-month leadership training program to educate leaders on how to lead Millennials and Gen Z employees so that they wanted to stay with the organization.

Beyond starting to reduce the stress of excessive turnover on the supervisors and managers, they are also experiencing operational gains because of the change in leadership style.

Lastly, and most importantly, another reason for addressing the issue of employee retention is organizational survival.

When you can’t keep the people you need to run your organization and your competitors can, you are out of business. That’s reality. In the next decade, we will find that organizations that don’t get a handle on their employee turnover will find themselves unable to compete. When this happens, an owner’s years of working to build a business will be flushed down the toilet or stockholders will suffer massive declines in the value of the business.

One manufacturing client in a rural area with a 1.8% unemployment rate was simply running out of people. They had to stop the employee turnover, or the business would be in jeopardy.

Using a combination of an employee retention workshop to get buy in from supervisors and managers and a focused kaizen event on employee retention, the organization saw a significant drop in employee turnover in the next year so that they now have a stable workforce. In fact, they were not only able to survive but are now able to grow.

In Conclusion

Regardless of the reason for embarking on an employee retention initiative, delaying the inevitable impact of employee retention is sheer insanity. The key to attacking employee turnover is to recognize that if you don’t take focused action, the issue is not going to go away.

The days of thinking that you can simply replace people are gone — long gone. And, the reasons for taking action are compelling ones. Clearly, it’s in the best interest of any organization and the leaders who must bear the brunt of turnover to act on this compelling business issue.

About the Author:

Jeff Kortes is a recognized speaker and trainer who helps organizations recruit, engage, develop and retain talent. Founder of Human Asset Management LLC, he has more than 25 years of experience in human resources working with companies including ConAgra Foods, SPX, Midas International and American Crystal Sugar. He is a member of the National Speakers Association (NSA) and the author of several books including: Give Your Employees C.R.A.P., 7 Other Secrets to Employee Retention, and HR Horror Stories…True Tales from the Trenches. For more information, contact me at jeff@humanassetmgt.com, 414-305-9626 or visit http://www.jeffkortes.com.

From Wall Street to Main Street, the issue of pay equity and demands for a fair living wage are making headlines across the country. Despite the growing furor, the idea that employees performing substantially equal work should be paid equally is not new. The Pay Equity Act was passed in 1963, followed by the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009.

However, laws alone have not closed the gap in pay disparity in many industries, a trend that also impacts small and mid-sized businesses. One reason may be that most companies are reluctant to share in-depth salary information about their employees based on race and gender data.

Recently, chip maker Intel made the unprecedented move to publicly release this data for 51,000 U.S. workers. The report was sent to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). This is the first year that the EEOC is requiring the same kind of pay data from all companies with more than 100 employees, though companies aren’t required to publicly disclose that data. Previously, the EEOC asked for race and gender data, but not pay information. Intel released its data after settling a pay discrimination lawsuit for $5 million in October.

As this example illustrates, organizations can face significant financial and legal ramifications if they are viewed as paying employees unfairly. And while most employers are motivated to do the right thing, what may be well intended with good workplace policies sometimes falls apart in actual practice.

Pay Equity Trends

Increased scrutiny of employer pay equity has made this a hot topic for companies of all sizes. For this reason, total rewards association WorldatWork conducted a Pay Equity Practices and Priorities Survey to assess the current state of pay equity related work. Key findings include:

Gender pay gap and broad pay equity analysis is becoming standard practice for organizations (79% and 71% respectively).

  • Additionally, 55% reported remediation strategy execution and remedial option evaluation (52%) are not far behind.
  • Interestingly, 32% of respondents are not looking at performance management practices. This is surprising since performance management programs tend to be subjective.
  • While employers are looking for potential biases that may influence pay disparities, benefits programs are not receiving the same attention.
  • Only 9% of organizations said gender pay gap analysis is not on their radar.

In another survey conducted by WorldatWork earlier this year in partnership with pay consultancy Korn Ferry, larger companies reportedly were more likely to take action on pay equity than smaller businesses. In fact, regulatory compliance and culture initiatives are key drivers behind pay equity management programs. So is the desire to improve employee engagement and build trust in organizations.

Still, the ultimate test of faith depends largely upon how pay equity is managed within the organization and how well pay equity initiatives are communicated to employees.

Changing Laws and Uncertain Politics

Employers navigating complex pay equity issues are just as likely to encounter a changing morass of state and municipal laws, some which assign rewards for liability and damages. According to some legislation, potential new hires are entitled to know what the pay range is during recruitment.

In addition, with national elections looming in 2020, public policies to address pay inequities could further expand. As a result, how organizations justify differences in employee pay based upon merit, seniority, or other factors may also need adjustment.

To land safely on pay equity issues in an uncertain political climate, companies are advised to:

Conduct comprehensive pay equity and pay gap analyses;

  • Identify diversity and inclusion priorities, then follow through;
  • Look into biases that may be discouraging promotions within the company; and
  • Define clear metrics for good performance, then ensure that unconscious biases don’t have an unwanted influence on performance evaluations.

Pay Transparency Pays Back

In today’s digital world, savvy employees have easy access to compensation information from online sources like Indeed, LinkedIn and GlassDoor. Therefore, they know what to expect to earn at a job. And The result is that companies can no longer avoid transparency when it comes to pay.

Being transparent about pay, at the same time, allows employees to understand their pay, how it relates to company values and how it compares to public information. The result is to strengthen the employee/employer relationship.

There are three reasons why compensation transparency matters:

  1. It’s important to employees. According to a recent survey by Mercer, reportedly only 19% of employees gave their employer an “A” for equity and promotion. In addition, data shows that in the past five years employee perception of pay has declined.
  2. Lack of transparency hinders organizations from achieving diversity in the workforce. It has been shown diversity in the workforce leads to higher performing organizations. Transparency supports holding companies accountable for compensation decisions made.
  3. Democratization of pay has made it easy for employees to have access to competitiveness information, taking compensation information out of employers’ control.

In Conclusion

Pay equity and equal pay for equal work seem like no brainers. But it’s not easy to change perceptions that are heavily entrenched in our society. Pay equity, however, is having an outsized impact on employer’s ability to hire and retain top talent in today’s highly competitive labor markets.

To discuss how pay equity and transparency can be addressed to attract and keep top talent at your organization, please contact Neil Lappley at (847) 921-2812 or nlappley@lappleiy.com.