Q5 Dr Lisa: Could you explain about the “felt fair pay” curve for the time span of discretion that is universal across cultures, currencies and continents? Tom: Felt-Fair-Pay is probably the most controversial, yet scientifically documented finding in the research of...
Q4 Dr Lisa: We find that incentives or bonus programs only useful in a small number of cases. Are management incentives or bonus compensations schemes ever appropriate in your opinion? Tom: I hear managers, especially in the sales arena decry that their best...
Q3 Dr Lisa: As you know we recommend against most incentive or bonus programs. How does the prevailing belief by Western management that incentives are effective relate to the “best efforts” contract? Tom: Yes, incentives are effective. They are most effective at...
Dr Lisa: Tom in your speech you mention the “best efforts” contract that exists between an employer and employee. Could you elaborate on what that is? Tom: There is a widely held notion that to get the best efforts from a person, management must engage in a game of...
We'll take a break from our POOGI series for this interesting 6 part interview of Tom Foster. ---------------------------------------------------------- I had a chance to interview Tom Foster. Tom is a consultant and TEC Chair in Florida. Brad heard Tom speak, checked...
How will we know if we have a good solution before we try to implement it? As business leaders, we’re smart people and fancy ourselves as problem-solvers. So, not only do we skip the step of developing a deep understanding of the problem, we jump to our favorite...
What is the problem? Answering that is extremely important. Without know the problem, how do you know where to focus or what to improve? Is it: Declining sales? Unrealistic expectations for increased productivity? No profit incentive payout? Low morale? The new...
The buy-in Process 1. Agree on the problem(s) 2. Agree on the direction of the solution 3. Agree that the solution solves the problem and brings the benefits 4. Agree on predicted negative side effects and prevent them 5. Agree on implementation obstacles and...
Whether you’re selling stuff or just trying to get the collaboration of other people, you need buy-in. Do you follow a buy-in process? As W. Edward Deming, father of the Quality Management revolution said, “If you can't describe what you are doing as a process, you...
There is probably at least one step in your sales funnel that is more expensive or uses more highly trained personnel. If so, that step can be managed just like a production constraint. It should not be wasted. In fact, it can become the control point for managing...
