REWARDS 2010 SPECIAL

Compensation of sales managers has alwaysattracted debates like a magnet. K.S. Kumar,Executive Vice President, Human Capital,Fullerton India, offers certain parameters toput all arguments to rest

No more

••per sale.

"Likethe Mad Hatter's "Why is a raven like a

writing desk?" in Alice in the Wonderland, Icouldn't help thinking that the usual approachto Sales Compensation often makes Sales staffask this question - "How is my performance linked

to my compensation?" And for most, the answer is similarto the Mad Hatter's response: "I haven't the slightest idea!"

In a sales organization, a discussion on sales compen­sation is usually a discussion based only on the incentiveplan! The typical approach is to set the fixed pay closer tothe median of the market with incentive as the avenue to

attain better mark-to-market percentile positions. The ratioof fixed pay to variable is sometimes at a low of 80:20 andsometimes as high as 40:60. Most managers desire toautomatically weed out underperformers through lowercompensation and keep their performers on their toesalways with a significant variable element. Depending onthe industry or the product, incentives are mostly paidout monthly or quarterly and occasionally half-yearly.Annual payments are rare for field staff but seen as apractice for regional sales roles as annual payments endup being considered as a bonus and runs counter to thephilosophy that reward should be as close to the actualperformance to be effective and drive performance.

Dangling the proverbial carrot is a skill that sales man­agers vie to attain excellence in and sales compensationis heavily biased by this philosophy. The key objectives ofsales compensation should be:

To drive higher sales measured most often in units ofsales in order to create good performance and sus­tained growth over the long term.To promote customer stickiness by cross selling addi­tional products with product wise thresholds.To create guidelines and rules that prevents staff from"gaming" the system.To drive prudent credit decisions in case of financialservices with hold backs of payments earned.To drive higher participation in the incentive plan

Unfortunately, the intention to be comprehensive, bal­ance all products, set detailed guidelines and encourageparticipation often ensures that many plans suffer fromthe following issues:

Targets set at the head office and assigned to region­al/local offices out of sync with actual potential.Complex plans with too many targets - thresholds areeither easy and do not change behaviour or too hardSales Contests over and above the incentive plan run

52 • People Matters· April 2010

Balanced Scorecard

Balance Short Term & Long TermParametersMove the typical short term bias on objectives and targetstowards a balance between the short and long term. Thisneeds to be clearly specified in goal sheets and sharedthrough levels of management. The reward could bethrough a pre-defined amount as a bonus if long term pa­rameters are met. While this approach clearly puts mon­ey behind the organizational objectives versus individualobjectives, a defined sum could also promote retention.

Enhanced RecognitionIt is often said that people join a company but leave theirsupervisors. Lack of recognition is often cited as a keyreason for disengagement and ultimately 'surfing thethresholds' performance and attrition. Many organiza­tions do a great job of a structured recognition programthat transparently identifies/ classifies performers intogroups with clear benefits to graduate into the higher cat-

ImprovedCommunicationThere is a huge opportunity in bothsimplifying and increasing the fre­quency of performance linked com­pensation targets and goals. Consid­er replacing complex policy docu­ments and caveats with 'Earning Ta-bles' which show the actual rupeevalue that will be earned for every

unit of performance. Clearly specify deductions or takeouts and leverage technology to keep employees in­formed on a daily basis if possible of where they stand onthe earning table or what additional effort is required tomove to the next slab. Earning tables should be easy tounderstand and there should be no hesitation to put theseon notice boards or to provide a sales compensation pay­slip on a monthly basis just like a monthly payslips.

Performance Management reviews tend to be an accu­mulation of monthly target achievement and people is-

sues often don't get adequate focus.As these reviews lead to the annual

compensation review, a balancedscorecard approach with equalweightage to people, process, cus­tomer, business and financial goalswould be a useful method to tempersales at any cost. This will supportboth audit and team objectives, helpidentify the individuals with poten­tial for sales and business manage­ment and avoid making bad manag­ers out of exceptional sales officers.

THERE IS

OPPORTUNITY IN

SIMPLIFYING AND

INCREASING THE

FREQUENCY OFPERFORMANCE LINKED

COMPENSATION

TARGETS AND GOALS,

AS WITH ENHANCED

RECOGNITION &

TRANSPARENT

CAREERPATHS

to cover short term dips in performance in specificproducts resulting in sudden increases in sales (oftenwith mis-selling) and drop in performance after thecontest - almost like withdrawal symptoms!Managers goals often not aligned with the sales staffgoals - objectives of profitability often conflict withthe 'more sales units' goals of the sales staff.Too many caveats leaving staff frustrated or unclearon how much they will earn or lose.If performance trend is below minimum threshold dur­ing a particular month, many stop trying. Once thresh­old for earning is achieved, some stop trying to achievebeyond the threshold and instead hold sales leads andpostpone to next month to help attain the minimum.Low performers continue in the system while strongperformers get disenchanted with the tougher targetsand new rules.High fixed variable ratios makefinancial coping difficult for thestrong performer who has a cou­ple of bad months - the drop inincentives hurt quickly and keeppeople on a constant treadmill.The economic downturn and the

pressure on costs have made manyorganizations review their salescompensation plans. Employershave had, on the negative side, todeal with employees mis-selling re­sulting in losses, lack of adequatecustomer due diligence and outrightfraud. In many companies, lowersales across all sectors have auto­

matically lowered incentive earn­ings. Coupled with higher inflation,the lower earnings were a doublesqueeze for employees.

As organizations try to addressthese issues, they have createdsome new trends, which are:1. Balancing fixed and variable pay

with a bias to reduce the variable or 'at risk' pay.2. Organizations particularly in financial services hurt

by the credit crisis are focusing more on 'responsi­ble selling' with an increased trend to back end partof the payments to be released after confirming thatno mis-selling or poor credit performance has oc­curred.

3. Tighter performance management metrics to ensurethat sales plans are more closely intertwined with or­ganizational objectives - a closer link with indicatorsof profitability.

4. Reworked communication to ensure greater compre­hension.

5. Increased focus on audit and due diligence of con­struction and payments of Incentive Plans.However there are clearly several ways to improve

overall sales management and align compensation moreclosely to longer term objectives.

People Matters' April 2010 • 53

REWARDS 2010 SPECIAL

egory. One retail organization has a guaranteed over­seas trip with recognition from the CEO for their 'Club100' each year. A pat on the back, an appreciation card,small awards, dinners, et ai, have a big impact when de­livered with a personal touch.

Transparent Career Pathsand Development PlansSlightly obtuse perhaps, but better compensation can bedelivered if a structured and transparent career path ispublished that allows employees to see what they needto achieve both in terms of performance and skills to getpromoted to the next level in the organization. The nextlevel should represent a higher compensation level andwith a clear enhancement of responsibilities that justifythe higher compensation. It is essential that these stepsare not just sales target achievement steps but include,for instance, certified skills relevant to the next role like

managing through metrics, advanced product expertiseand coaching for performance. Focused development bydesign is often a cherished reward!

Design for loyalty and retentionAppropriate elements in the compensation structure

that support retention both in the same role and in the

organization linked to performance can be added. Rewarda sales officer to remain a sales officer if that is what he is

best suited for rather than try to make him a sales manag­er and setting him up to fail. Some innovative methodshave included a role specific retention of part of the monthlyincentive with a matching contribution from the Companythat is paid out if the employee remains with the organiza­tion for between three to five years. Another innovation isshare of branch level profitability on an annual basis pro­vided one remains part of a particular branch for long.

In summary, the clear direction fuelled by the down­turn is a focus on responsible selling with rewards spreadover the lifecycle of revenue from the product with a balanceof audit and compliance. Recognition and developmental fo­cus are useful non-cash high impact rewards that can helpalign heart and mind with the organizational objectives.shareof branch level profitability on an annual basis provided oneremains part of a particular branch for long.

In summary, the clear direction fuelled by the downturnis a focus on responsible selling with rewards spread overthe lifecycle of revenue from the product with a balance ofaudit and compliance. Recognition and developmental fo­cus are useful non-cash high impact rewards that can helpalign heart and mind with the organizational objectives. _

K.S. Kumar is Executive Vice President, Human Capital, Fullerton India

Human Resource Management System• Designed and conceptualized by the India's leading HR Consulting Group

• Life time license provided to client with no dependency on number of users

• Completely web-based - enables knowledge sharing across locations around the world

• Modular structure allows maximum flexibility and customization

• Easy to use - requires no extra training expenses in the long term

• Organizations can design their own login access levels as per their organization structure

• High System scalability and compatible to be integrated with ERPs like Oracle/SAP etc

• Manages multiple employee series in on~i7gle system

• S'ogle w'odow to ,omp,"y', HRto "'~",'e"

Minvesta is the software products subsidiary of Ma Foi and a group company of Randstad.

.minerva

HR Suite

Call us for a demo of the software+91-9382858057

+91-9246190827

+91- 9322593505

sales.india@minvesta.comwww.minvesta.com

II randstad

Automates Every HR process- Recruitment Process - Training & Development- Employee Information - Resource Allocation- Leave & Attendance - Separation & Exit- Flexi Salary & Payroll Processing - Reporting & Analytics- Performance Appraisal and more ...

m investa Ji:, ma foi