A coment posted on: http://social.eyeforpharma.com/story/demonstrating-impact-training-and-development-programs-sfe

I do have a couple of comments on this interesting article, most of them actually building on Nick Pope’s (my regards for a beautiful workshop led in Barcelona SFE conference in spring 2008) ideas and insights.

One of the obstacles I see in measuring the effectiveness of T&D programs is a language conflict at the top. Senior executives (others than HR) are too much financially oriented. They want to see how much they get for how much they pay and less about others. HR executives in their attempt to comply with this and are looking for programs that have some kind of proof in this regard. In between is the sales executive who has to implement with little involvement in the equation (I am speaking about the real implementers in field). Actually there is a little room for articulating a vision about desired competences and specific processes to reach and certify them. Without such vision sales people often have the chance to witness one totally new training rollout or initiative every 2-3 years. Many of them are made to look like something totally new and are implemented as if no previous skill or training has been recorded earlier. (more…)

9)      Too many SPIFFs. Creatively designed by brand managers in their quest for gaining attention share from salespeople, they may end up expensively undermining the whole incentive system (and company performance too). I have to admit that some of them, especially if well thought, can give a spike on sometimes monotonous salesperson life. However, if too many, sales people will pick one that is the most convenient for each (actually will look like a well agreed split) and the overall result may be less than we hoped for. Consequently, we end up spending a lot for a performance that on average is the same.

10)     “Sky is the limit!” No cap for rewards. The more you sell the more you get. May also work in some situations pretty well. Unfortunately, in carries also the (more…)

5)      Provide incentives for things with small weights, which in the end is meaningless. Or put differently: less than 10% in the total economy of the bonus won’t boost morale of any real performers. In other words: put the money in the lottery, it still does not change behavior but at least have a minimal chance to win something. (more…)

When it comes to bonus schemes the old adage “you’re getting what you’re paying for” is as true as always. Managers, linear, logical and predictable as we have always been, (we were rather unlikely to have become managers if being otherwise) are struggling to find the ideal, universally accepted bonus scheme that would fit in most markets, product lines, and times and so on. Pretty often, as time shows, we end up making a number of errors translated in wasted resources in the best case and combined with unwanted results in the worst. Below you can find a dozen of the most frequent mistakes witnessed. (more…)