Jason Jennings on How New Leaders Can Hit the Ground Running
Published: Jan 24, 2019
It's one of the thorniest management problems around: dealing with unmotivated, low-performing employees. It's easy to point the finger of blame at them. But in most companies, it's the reward system, not the workforce, that's causing poor attitudes and performance: many reward systems actually discourage desired behaviors while rewarding the very actions that drive executives crazy.
In Reward Systems: Does Yours Deliver? Steve Kerr describes the steps you must take to create an effective reward system:
- Clarify what you mean by "performance" -- in ways that help employees understand how they can support what you're trying to accomplish
- Devise an effective performance-measurement system that distinguishes between metrics used for control and those used for employees' development
- Design a reward system that motivates people to do what you want them to do while also meeting their needs
Steve Kerr is the former Chief Learning Officer of Goldman Sachs and General Electric. He is a former professor of management and has served on the faculties of the University of Michigan business school, Ohio State University, and the University of Southern California, where he was faculty dean. He has authored numerous academic articles and coauthored the bestselling business books The Boundaryless Organization and The GE Work-Out.
For additional training on this topic, consider these AMA seminars:
* Essentials of Human Resources Management
* Human Resources Measurement and Metrics
* Coaching and Counseling for Outstanding Job Performance
To learn more, read these AMACOM Books:
How to Recognize and Reward Employees by Donna Deeprose
Effective Executive Compensation by Michael Dennis Graham, Thomas A. Roth, Dawn Dugan
More ProActive Sales Management by William "Skip" Miller
Keeping the People Who Keep You in Business by Leigh BranhamYou have to hit the ground running— diagnose the situation, pull together a strong team, decide on a strategy, and inspire everyone to execute it.
Jason Jennings and his research team searched for the new CEOs who had pulled off the most impressive transformations of this decade. He interviewed ten who, on average, had doubled revenues, doubled profit margins, and more than tripled earnings per share, at companies such as Staples, Goodrich, Humana, and J. M. Smucker.
Jennings’ new book, Hit the Ground Running, lists ten new “golden rules” that can help leaders balance the short term and the long term, and the competing needs of shareholders, employees, customers, and the community.
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