Page 114 - HBR Leader's Handbook: Make an Impact, Inspire Your Organization, and Get to the Next Level

104 HBR Leader’s Handbook

senior versus junior people? What about vice versa—what happens
if the team or organization does well but individuals miss? Should
they share in the rewards anyway? What is the weight on the indi-
vidual versus organizational success?

• What behaviors are critical for success on your team? How seri-
ously will you assess and compare these with the achievement of
goals? What happens if someone does a fantastic job of reaching
their business targets, but falls short in the behavioral sphere? Will
you follow Jack Welch’s lead and ask that person to leave despite
the good results? Will you give them a second chance?

• What kinds of nonmonetary rewards can you provide as recog-
nition for work well done? In addition to personal praise, to what
extent can you use your communications channels to recognize
people and make them heroes? Are there opportunities for manag-
ers and teams to present their achievements to others? Should you
reward exceptional contributors through dinners, trips, or outings?
What other ways can you make your team and top performers feel
truly appreciated?

Obviously, every leader will answer these questions differently, and
some will be applicable for the entire organization while others will apply at
certain levels. Senior leaders, of course, have more influence over the entire
incentives approach. But even if you are a team leader, you need to know
how your organization thinks about these questions so that you can com-
municate them to your people. You also need to think about whether you
can have some local control over some of the incentives. For example, there
might be some companywide behaviors that are encouraged and rewarded,
but you may have some additional behaviors that you want your team to
follow. Similarly, there might be nonfinancial incentives that all leaders in
the organization use, but there may be others that you develop yourself for
your team (e.g., dinners with people who make special contributions).
Once you are clear about the answers to these questions (whether you
are making the decisions yourself or more senior leaders are giving