What Works Best?

We discussed this in "The Future" above, but other studies show curious results as well.

Bucklin and Dickinson (2001) indicated that most of the common variations in incentive plans make no difference in performance. One of her studies showed that performance did not differ significantly whether the amount to be earned as an incentive was three percent or 100% of total pay. As her work seems to indicate, any incentive plan, regardless of its structure, is better than none at all. Three suggestions: consider non-cash incentives to offer on top of competitive compensation; customized individual incentives are more effective than group incentives; and make sure that every employee's day-to-day manager or supervisor is positive. Remember, employees leave supervisors more often than they leave companies.

American vs. European

American workers, on average, have less job security than European workers. When faced

with a need to reduce their workforce,...
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