Breaking the mental barrier between strategy and execution, particularly in the delicate
sales compensation ecosystem where incentives pump blood flow to the heart of motivation and performance, has significant benefits, particularly in today’s
highly competitive marketplace. Here are several reasons why incentive strategy and execution teams should be highly collaborative. Not just a nice-to-have but a necessity for success and consistent growth.
The Power of Collaboration
At the same time, incentive strategy and its execution represent a natural union of ‘feet and vision’. The strategy set, backed by inputs on the markets and the business, fashion performance management plans that seek to channel all the teams and persons within the company to the business objectives. The execution sets, comprised of the frontline sales professionals, take up these plans and implement them, step by step, to achieve results on the ground. In this scenario, things can really move.
The Alignment Advantage
Alignment of incentive strategy and execution is not just about the ‘nuts and bolts’ of implementing plans, but creating a unifying sense of purpose across the organisation. When strategy and execution are in synch, some important benefits emerge:
Clarity and focus: By putting in place incentive structures that align with higher-level business objectives, the organisation gives their front-line teams a well-defined path to success – so that every move moves the bottom line.
Agility and adaptability: Synchronised teams can respond with greater dexterity and speed
to market shifts and customer needs, creating or adjusting incentive plans in
real-time to seize new opportunities and mitigate higher risks.
Optimised Resource Allocation: An incentive programme that is aligned with organisational strategy will get resources to those activities that contribute to organisational goals sooner, get more out of those investments, and grow those activities faster.
Shared Decision-Making: When strategy and execution teams work together, frontline employees are empowered to make their own decisions and hold themselves accountable for results.
Overcoming the Silo Effect
Despite the obvious advantages of alignment, the creation of a wholly integrated performance process between incentive strategy designers and execution teams can be elusive, for a variety of reasons, including:
Siloed communication: Isolating C-level decisionmakers, functional event leads and line of business delivery teams in differing communication channels might cause miscommunication, and missed opportunities that stem from disconnected communication channels.
Data Fragmentation: Poorly aggregated performance data and metrics can limit an execution team’s ability to monitor their performance and make informed decisions, ultimately sabotaging the effectiveness of the incentive plan.
Cultural Inertia: Organisational inertia or resistance to change could prevent shifts in alignment of business strategy and operations. A cultural transformation towards greater collaboration and open dialogue may be needed.
Cultivating Synchronization: Best Practices for Success
To break through these barriers and align high level incentive strategy to the tactical effort of execution teams, organisations can employ several best
practices:
Create Channels of Communication: Foster a
spirit of collaboration and openness between strategy teams and execution teams so that insights and feedback flow freely in both directions.
Infrastructure to Invest: Technology platforms
to centralise data, streamline communications and provide real-time insight
into performance metrics to empower the team to make data-driven decisions.
Skills training and support should be provided
to frontline managers to aid them in implementing incentive plans and
supporting workers in meeting their goals.
Celebrate Successes: Reinforce the value and
impact of the collaboration between strategy and execution by celebrating joint achievements.
With markets fiercely competitive, aligned incentive strategy and execution is no longer a competitive advantage; it is a strategic mandate. Bringing strategy and execution teams together enables organisations to maximise their sales force potential, achieve superior market performance, and gain competitive advantage. It is time we embrace collaboration as the new frontier in optimising sales compensation.
