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Four
Levels of Team Membership
by
Effective Compensation, Incorporated
There
are many ways that compensation professionals view teams; for
instance, whether the team is self-directed, project, overlay
or problem solving; the team structure based on the tasks the
members perform; and the type of performance management system
used to mention a few.
Effective
Compensation, Incorporated
feels that it is imperative to be sensitive to the different
types of employees that make up the team when developing a
compensation plan. We have observed that employees have
different perspectives on what it means to be part of a team,
particularly in terms of how the team membership will affect
their compensation. This paper briefly outlines four stages
that we see and their implication for compensation design.
|
Level
|
Category
|
Perspective
|
Employee’s
Pay Preference
|
|
1
|
Hider |
I’m
insecure, a team is a good place to hide. |
Fixed
salary based on seniority, plus an incentive pool
that is divided equally so I can get a share. |
|
2
|
Team
Player |
A
team lets me be with co-workers that I like and with
whom I can be productive. |
Fixed
salary based on seniority, plus an incentive pool
that is divided equally so that I can win friends by
helping them get more as a result of my efforts and
success. |
|
3
|
Individualist |
A
team limits my ability for individual recognition. |
Fixed
salary based on competencies, plus an incentive pool
that is divided based on the performance levels of
the individuals on the team so I get my full share,
which is not diluted by unearned payments to others. |
|
4
|
Leader |
I
can raise the quality and productivity of others
through a team. |
Fixed
salary based on competencies, plus an incentive pool
that recognizes that not only did I personally do
more than the others, but that I inspired (or
taught) the others so that they could be more
productive. |
Team
members will tend to leave teams that have a culture that is
not compatible with their own perspective.
Most
teams will contain employees that have differing perspectives
on what it means to be a team member. This will mean that some
team members will probably feel uncomfortable with whatever
approach to pay is used. The differences between employees
might be mitigated in several ways including:
1)
Training - coaching will help team members to see
the benefits of working together with minimal self
interest. This will have limited impact unless the
issues underlying the different perspectives are
addressed.
2)
Employee selection - only hiring employees that
have the same perspective will help the team to function
in harmony. The problem with this approach is that
team members tend to "grow" through the various
levels and the team members will eventually end up with
differences.
3)
Personal support - recognizing that employees at
the lower levels are there due to insecurity,
organizations can help raise most employees to levels
3 and 4 by implementing programs to help employees develop
the skills, competencies, personal resources and self
confidence needed to allow them to be comfortable with
team pay approaches that recognize and encourage key
performance differences.
We
recognize that ideally team members will not let self interest
interfere with the best interests of the team. Some gurus
advocate paying all team members the same to avoid conflict.
We believe that this practice fails to recognize the different
roles that team members may have and the differing degrees to
which they enable the team to meet its objectives. When all is
said and done, paychecks are still made out to individuals and
the individuals have different personal abilities and goals.
*
* * * * *
Effective
Compensation, Incorporated
is an independent consulting firm, providing a full range of
compensation-related services on a cost-effective basis. We
assist organizations in becoming more effective through
improving their employee cultures. If you are interested in
learning more about how ECI can assist you with
performance-oriented pay or other compensation-related issues,
please contact:
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