Incentive Compensation for Contractors - Audience Question: Cooling Off Period and Closing

Sometimes, any change in the organization, including incentive programs, simply doesn't work.

Courtney Stearns Profile Picture
Share
Contributors Sue Weiler-Doke David Brown

One of the hardest leadership decisions is making the decision to:

  1. Push forward knowing that the problems are momentary and the end objectives will ultimately be achieved if you stay the course.
  2. Make adjustments to the program and immediately give it another try.  
  3. Allow a cooling off period before executing either A or B, giving the team time to recover.
  4. Pull back and don’t move forward in that direction again.  

The challenge is that there is no single right answer for all situations.  

  • Leaders must know their teams and how resilient they are at this particular moment in time.  
  • Leadership is rarely about making decisions that are black and white - those are simple.  
  • Leaders must make tough directional decisions in the absence of complete information to move a team toward often fuzzy objectives.  

Test out your course of action based on talking to a few of your trusted team members at all levels and then decide. 

This is Part 20 of a 20-Part Series


Topics Covered in the Series Include:

  • Risks
  • Culture
  • Prerequisites
  • Succession
  • Types of Programs

All relationships start with a simple conversation. Let’s schedule some time to talk about your specific challenges and opportunities.


More from Courtney Stearns
Incentive Compensation for Contractors - Risks
The highest risk with any incentive program is the lack of a well thought out and systematic approach to either administering or implementing the program.
Incentive Compensation for Contractors - Audience Question: Higher Base Compensation?
There is absolutely no perfect ratio between base vs. incentive compensation. Here are the variables and some rules of thumb.
Incentive Compensation for Contractors - Audience Question: Keep Why Top Of Mind?
Incentive programs can be as seemingly small and informal as a handshake from a manager for a job well done up to very large cash compensation.