As the economic crisis continues, a new consensus seems to be forming about its aftermath. Not in terms of exactly what our economy and industrial landscape will look like on the other side; rather, only that it will be different. Perhaps profoundly so.
That is the crux of the challenge facing many organizations today. As if it were not tough enough just to figure out how to pull through today's challenges intact, they must also come to grips with the business model and changes that will position them for success in the new order. I heard it recently (and aptly) described as a dramatic tension between surviving today and thriving in the future.
If we are going to help our organizations succeed in riding this knife's edge between the current and future condition, our HR programs - and specifically our reward practices - will need to drive and support both kinds of efforts and results.
I've posted in the past about looking at total rewards as a portfolio of sorts, where each reward element is designed to accomplish a specific purpose. The picture below illustrates an example of this concept.
A balanced reward portfolio, in this sense, reflects a sound balance in the purpose, design and interaction of the different reward plan elements. Traditionally I have looked at performance along the spectrum of individual to organization-wide performance, as depicted in the example above. Perhaps the time has now come to look at another dimension of balance in rewards:
Should some element of what you measure and reward be driving efforts toward the discovery and definition of your organization's future state? Maybe it's something completely outside and apart from your current reward program elements ... even your current job roles and organization structure.
History and common sense tell us that innovation does not happen from the top down, so astute leadership teams are involving employees at all levels in the conversation about what the future might look like. What if you gave employees the opportunity to create and join their own future vision teams by making some amount of time, tools and physical space available for this purpose? The objectives of these little voluntary skunkworks could include:
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Considering new business models, new (or new configurations of) products and services.
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Finding potential new revenue streams, new efficiencies.
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Looking at and refining new ideas, markets and opportunities, big and small.
What if anyone who signed on to any team (even multiple teams, if they wanted) was eligible for an award - a share of whatever collective value was created? If any team wins, everyone wins - in order to encourage collaboration and the fluidity of ideas between teams. Not such a significant level of award that it drains undue time and attention from the critical day-to-day tasks of surviving and thriving through the current challenges, but enough to direct some energy to - and excitement around - the future.
Just thinking out loud here.
What kinds of future oriented award efforts have you seen? What ideas do you have to help balance organizational attention between today and tomorrow?
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