How you compensate people is one of the most important strategic decisions your company will make - but few "get it right and out of sight." Nail it and you can add hundreds of percentage points to the bottom line while driving up the energy in the organization. Make the wrong call (or piecemeal the decision together), and the results will create needless drama throughout the organization. Do any of these challenges sound familiar? ¿ "I gave a star performer a raise, and now everyone else is marching into my office, demanding one, too." ¿ "If anyone looked closely at our payroll, it would be hard to rationalize why we're paying certain people what we do." ¿ "I'm tired of losing our best people to the Googles of the world because we can't match their salaries."Compensation is one of your largest expenses, one you can turn it into a strategic advantage in attracting, retaining, and motivating talent (or not accidentally demotivating them). In this highly practical book, the authors share 5 principles for designing effective compensation systems along with plenty of examples from leading small, medium, and large firms across various industries. You'll learn: 1. The #1 mistake business leaders make in setting up their compensation plans 2. The psychological aspects of compensation underpinning successful plans 3. How individual bonuses can backfire 4. The power of gamifying gains to drive up energy and engagement 5. Whether you want to be queen/king or rich!

Overview - Five Principles for Effective Compensation Design Be Different: Aligning Compensation with Culture and Strategy Fairness Not Sameness: Creating a Coherent and Flexible Pay Structure Easy on the Carrots: Using Individual Incentives Effectively Gamify Gains: Driving Critical Numbers Through P(l)ay Sharing Is Caring: Getting Employees to Think Like Owners Closing: Get Pay Right and Out of Sight Appendix About the Authors