It’s Valentine’s Day. School children are passing out cards to their classmates, romantic partners are giving and receiving presents, women are continuing to give “Galentine’s Day” cards to their BFFs, and brands are, well, publishing sappy blog posts. Not us, though. This post will not be sappy. You’ll see.

Being locked up at home for the past nine months has given me the time to watch some videos that wouldn’t have made the list in a normal year. The rabbit hole of streaming information recently brought me to a series of videos on triathlons. Watching a few of these events (appropriately sped up) reminded me of the power of a compensation philosophy.

Given enough Lego and you can build just about anything. Sales compensation is similarly simple, flexible, and potentially complex. Do you focus people on volume, quality of sales, profitability, growth, long-term builds? This list is nearly endless. How you motivate people to stay focused is similarly flexible. Do you use commissions, SPIFFs, spot bonuses, long-term incentives, quarterly goals, annual goals, team metrics, or individual achievement? Do you focus on granularity or stay tuned with the big picture? Any program requires buy-in from so many people and groups. The final result is something that people depend on to pay their own bills and keep their company afloat. Making small changes is simple, but real change is hard.

Employee burnout is something all organizations face regardless of industry, employee experience or position within the company. When that is coupled with the stress of the past 18 months, including COVID, political unrest, and other stressors in our lives, we find that people can begin buckling under that pressure. Keeping that in mind, as leaders, we need to figure out ways to not only retain our employees but, keep them from reaching the point where they burn out. We addressed retention in our last blog post and went into detail about ways to improve your culture and unearth underlying issues within your team.

Download the employee recognition program.

In a healthy company, people regularly talk to their managers (unhealthy companies are a topic for a different post). This is similar to people wanting to know more about your company. The first step is heading to your website. The place they land has headlines that your company thinks are important for people to know.

This is where many mid-stage high-growth companies find themselves on a regular basis. They have an innovative product and the core team for future success. The future is just beyond the horizon and the sunrise is just beginning to show. They have a business plan that requires a ton of new hires and a compensation philosophy or structure designed for the company they were a year ago.

Just like your teeth impact your speech your pay can impact who you hire, the kind of people you keep and whether you will succeed at all. Pay is a foundational component of your future success. What you pay someone today sets an expectation for them and for every hire of a similar person.

Your new compensation program is the car. Your roll-out communications are the first tank of gas. The rest is the story of nearly every new program in the world of compensation. Communication is often viewed as a maintenance item. In truth, it is an essential component that makes compensation…

Editor's Note: Ever feel like things are a little backward pay program wise? You're not alone, friend! Dan Walter, master of the compensation metaphor, shines a light on the Classic problem we all face at one time or another - particularly those of us who work in or serve smaller, entrepreneurial organizations.

Editor's Note: Dan Walter provides a Classic reminder that if we aren't excited about the compensation plans we create, little chance anyone else will be either - no matter how flashy our colorful newsletters or powerpoint presentations.

Actor Gene Wilder’s recent passing, along with a recent client call, reminded me Veruca Salt’s “I Want It Now!”. The song from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (the real one, not that lame version starring Johnny Depp.) As reminder, Veruca wants not only the goose’s golden egg, she also wants the goose itself. Mr. Wonka declines and chaos ensues. This seems to be an increasingly popular story in our tight job market.

Millions of people around the world have been captivated by the recent Jeopardy winning streak by James Holzhauer. Holzhauer was recently able to amass the second largest haul in the game show’s history. During his winning streak, he averaged $77,000 per game. For those not familiar with Jeopardy, the game is often won by someone with winnings in the single-digit thousands. Yes, he knew a lot about nearly everything, but that’s not why he won so much.

Companies love equity compensation. We often use it without understanding its cost. We also use it without understanding its tangential impact. As it turns out, there has been a ton of research over the past 20 years, much of it invisible to most compensation professionals. The types of equity, terms and conditions of awards, and communications supporting these programs all have greater weight than most people realize.