Rewards That Drive High Performance: Success Stories From Leading Organizations (Hardcover)

by Thomas B. Wilson (Author) "We are witnessing a revolution in the workplace..." (more)
Key Phrases: new sales incentive plan, base compensation plan, variable compensation program, Wilson Group, Eagle Award, United States (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist
Usually overlooked in the discussion over the changing workplace and how organizations must restructure to be more effective is any consideration of compensation and rewards. Wilson heads a consulting firm that specializes in performance-based reward systems and is the author of Innovative Reward Systems for the Changing Workplace (1994). There he explained how to replace inflexible pay systems to make pay contingent on achievement, create a stake in the business, and build meaningful recognition systems. Now he profiles 40 companies as diverse as Amazon.com, Coca-Cola, and Baptist Health System that have successfully established such systems. Providing a brief overview of each company and explaining why each needed to make a change, Wilson shows how compensation can be tied to instilling an entrepreneurial spirit, creating a stake in the enterprise, improving customer service, teamwork, supporting a business turnaround, retaining talent, reinforcing quality processes, and matching rewards to a changing strategy. Wilson's guide will also show those executives and managers who profess to "walk the talk" how to put their money where their mouths are. David Rouse

Product Description
Just as "you get what you pay for" once rang true, companies today are adhering to another piece of wisdom: "You pay for what you get." This is a revolutionary new approach to compensation where pay is no longer viewed as an unavoidable expense, but as a powerful tool to achieve organizational goals.

And while most companies know that rewards should be tied to real performance (rather than mere longevity and effort), only a few of them actually prove it by letting employees share in the results they helped to achieve. Not just with a pat on the back or a kind word, but with significant, tangible, financial rewards.

Rewards That Drive High Performance profiles 39 companies that have successfully linked compensation to achievement. These original case studies reveal how each company devised its own blend of salary systems, incentive and bonus programs, personal recognition, and other rewards to recognize superior work and motivate high performance. And they give you a fascinating, behind-the-scenes portrait of what's happening at some of America's leading corporations, including:

* How Saturn Corporation's unique reward system helped revive America's moribund car manufacturing industry--and how it continues to support a culture of customer focus, collaboration, and market responsiveness * How Starbucks Coffee Company created a total, integrated reward and human resources program that puts employees first--and serves as a lever to the company's tremendous growth (from 11 stores in 1987 to 1,800 retail locations today) * How Corning Incorporated's goal-sharing program helps it retain market leadership in an increasingly competitive environment * How Levi Strauss & Co.'s Partners in Performance and Global Success Sharing programs work to retain the core values of a family-type business--and to sustain a highly productive, committed workforce * How Amazon.com's reward program has been specifically designed to appeal to the kind of people it wants to recruit: aggressive, bright, and invested in the long-term success of this dynamic company.

Best, yet, with Rewards That Drive High Performance you'll learn not only why each company needed to change and how it developed a reward program to support those changes. You'll also understand how to adapt these programs to enhance the spirit of your own organization, to redefine the relationship between employer and employee, and to improve your company's competitiveness and vitality.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 322 pages
• Publisher: AMACOM (April 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0814404286
• ISBN-13: 978-0814404287
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.3 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,245,444 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Find out how America's leading orgs. reward their employees., July 15, 1999

By A Customer

Tom Wilson's new book is even better than his last, which I found to be one of the best reward systems books written. Rewards that Drive High Performance is a rich and easy reading collection of case studies from some of the country's leading organizations, including Amazon.com, Starbucks, Genzyme and many others. It is a book that I, as a manager, found to be very practical -- a compensation "text" for line managers because it shows what works and why, not just theory.

I really liked the way the cases were grouped, because it shows that reward systems need to be defined differently for different applications and company cultures. Best practices are useful to study, but Wilson's book goes beyond this to show how and why the best companies do what they do and align their reward systems with their business objectives.

It's refreshing to see a book from a leading consultant not geared to "provide just enough" to entice the reader to want to know more -- this book truly tells the whole story, and does it in a way that proves to be a compelling read.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars 10 Key Factors Make Reward Systems Successful., January 16, 2001

By	Turgay BUGDACIGIL (Istanbul, Turkey) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

"This book provides a series of stories that offer a window into today's organizations. While the focus is on the reward systems that these organizations devised and implemented, the true picture goes much deeper. Each story reflects an organization that was facing a need to change the way it coducted its business and developed a process to support and reinforce change. So, the reward systems are manifestations of a new set of values and practices within organizations...The case studies in this book were developed with representatives of these organizations. They are true, real-life descriptions of what goes on inside these companies...While this book can be read from front to back, it was not written to be read in a traditional manner. It may be useful to take a non-linear approach, jumping from one section to another...This book is not intended to represent the best practices of the best companies, although it often does. It is a book about reality. It may not include the design for the perfect reward system, but it should give you ideas and approaches that will change the way you think about, develop, and manage rewards (pp.1-7)."

In this context, Thomas B. Wilson focuses on:

* How does an organization such as Amazon.com instill or retain the entrepreneurial spirit that it had when it was small?

* how companies such as DuPont, Coca-Cola, and Cisco Systems seek to create a bridge between the requirements for success and each individual.

* how companies retain a customer focus so that people collaborate and strive to perform better.

* how companies such as DuPont, Cumming Engine, and K/P Corporation encouraged people to collaborate and provided a share of the benefit if improvements could be achieved.

* how companies retain their critical talents.

* how companies such as Allied Signal, and Harvard University Health Services have integrated a variety of quality management processes into their organizations.

* how companies have changed their reward systems to support new business strategies.

Finally, he writes that "to aid you in developing your own approach to change, I have summarized the 10 key factors that seem to most accurately determine what makes reward systems successful. While this list summarizes common characteristics, the true significance is in applying these principles to your own situation and to learn from the direct application of experience."

1. Reward systems play a crucial role in performance.

2. Measures give rewards relevance; rewards give measures meaning.

3. Alignment and consistency are essential.

4. How people are paid is often more important than how much they are paid.

5. Build programs with a vision, and then improve them over time.

6. The value of the reward should exceed the cost.

7. The program begins after the first payouts.

8. Translate measures into action.

9. Make rewards meaningful.

10. Take a strategic, systemic, and holistic approach.

Highly recommended.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Understand the critical importance of an employee reward system, February 20, 2006

By	Louise McCauley (Chicago, IL) - See all my reviews

In the modern economy, organizations that compete for the best people must learn to design reward systems that drive performance. The author argues that in today's marketplace, more and more companies are seeing employee benefits not as an expense, but as a tool for achieving particular goals. The author further explains that with loyalty gone, workers need a reward system that works, or they will leave the company.

Author Thomas Wilson explored many different reward systems from different firms. As he reviewed the most successful firms, he started to notice similarities. The author noticed that regardless of the individual goals of each organization's reward program, they all shared these 10 key factors:

· Reward systems play a crucial role in performance.
· Measures give rewards relevance, rewards give measures meaning.
· Alignment with the company's philosophies and values, along with consistency are essential.
· How people are paid is often more important than how much they are paid.
· Build programs with a vision, improving them over time.
· The value of the reward, including psychological value, should exceed its cost.
· Recognize that the program does not become real for workers until the first payment.
· Translate measures into action guidelines for employees.
· Make rewards more meaningful by combing financial with non-financial rewards.
· Use rewards as strategic management systems used to support the strategy, goals, and values of a company.