http://blog.vladvisors.com vladvisors Tue, 27 Jul 2010 22:52:14 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Periodically, we will receive a call from a business leader seeking our help to build a more effective incentive plan.  Often, it takes a while to determine whether what is being sought is a sales plan or a broader performance-based reward.  The difficulty in decifering which kind of approach is needed ... http://blog.vladvisors.com/uncategorized/sales-vs-performance-vs-growth-incentives What are the purposes behind your compensation programs? For example, why do you pay salaries? Why do you offer bonuses? How about your retirement program? Does it have a fundamental business purpose? The obvious answer is that no one will work for you if you don’t offer a competitive package? But ... http://blog.vladvisors.com/uncategorized/the-sole-purpose-for-any-compensation-plan Lots of companies fret if their salaries aren’t “at market.” Should they be? Lots of effort goes into the compilation and analysis of data to determine just how competitive salaries and total comp are.  If people care so much it must be worthwhile. Is it? Well…yes and no. Of course it’s ... http://blog.vladvisors.com/recession-strategies/should-your-salaries-be-%e2%80%9cat-market%e2%80%9d In my last blog I described the 5 biggest mistakes made by companies that adopt phantom stock plans. Today—the 5 best innovations that can make your plan a driver of performance and value. Determine how much value you want to share with employees before you begin to design the plan. To ... http://blog.vladvisors.com/current-pay-trends-and-topics/so-what-makes-a-%e2%80%98good%e2%80%99-phantom-stock-plan Twenty years ago very few people were familiar with the concept of ‘phantom stock.’ Today, most business owners are familiar with the term—and many have strong opinions about whether they work or not. Do they?  For a plan to  ‘work’ it should: (a) provide a meaningful reward for employees if the ... http://blog.vladvisors.com/uncategorized/what-think-ye-of-phantom-stock-does-it-work Ask any CEO or owner that question and chances are you will get a response something like this: "Hmmm. Not sure."  Ask the same CEO what the largest budget item is on the company's financial statement and the response will likely be: "Compensation."  Does anyone see the disconnect here?  How ... http://blog.vladvisors.com/uncategorized/is-your-compensation-plan-driving-or-hindering-growth Too often a company's compensation strategy discussion begins in the wrong place.  It starts with questions about design or amounts.  This occurs because, in most instances, the company is just trying to solve a problem.  And usually, its hope is that there is a way to simply "plug the hole" that's making the ... http://blog.vladvisors.com/uncategorized/outcome-based-compensation-design The execution gap—the bane of every CEO. “We have a good strategy, good people, good products. Why aren’t we getting the results we’re capable of?” Have you ever asked yourself that question (with or without the dangling preposition)? Lots of books have been written about execution and the sometimes exasperating effort ... http://blog.vladvisors.com/current-pay-trends-and-topics/do-you-have-a-gap-between-strategy-and-execution-what%e2%80%99s-missing Every business wants the best--the best product, the best customer service, the best possible profit margin, the best market position, and the best people.  Some actually achieve it.  How do they do it?  From VisionLink's point of view, there are four  essentials that a company must get right if it hopes to ... http://blog.vladvisors.com/uncategorized/what-makes-premier-talent-join-an-organization-and-stay That is not a VisionLink claim.  It's the claim of Jean Martin and Conrad Schmidt, both of the Corporate Executive Board's Corporate Leadership Council in Washington, DC, as reported in their Harvard Business Review article--May 2010 edition.  The claim is based on research done by the Leadership Council in September of 2009.  It's ... http://blog.vladvisors.com/uncategorized/one-quarter-of-your-highest-potential-people-plan-to-leave-in-the-next-year