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The Old Way |
The New Way |
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High performing employees get promoted. |
High performing employees get rewarded. |
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Objective |
To motivate high performing employees with promotions. |
To motivate high performing employees with rewards and recognition. |
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Method |
Top performing employees are promoted into higher positions in the hierarchy, when they eventually become available. |
The efforts of teams and those who support them are recognized and rewarded as soon as possible. |
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Perspective |
"We need to hold out our top performers as models which other employees can copy." |
"We have to mobilize our entire workforce to learn and grow together." |
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Career Development |
Individuals are responsible for advancing their own careers. To do so, they must beat out their co-workers and colleagues. |
Individuals and their companies will work together to advance everyone’s careers. To do so, they must learn and grow, and their companies must actively groom them. |
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Beneficiary |
The one employee who gets promoted (usually) benefits. Nasty rumors sometimes circulate which explain why one person was promoted instead of another. Desired behaviours remain somewhat of a mystery. |
All employees who contributed to the achievement benefit soon after. Everyone in the company knows why the team was rewarded, and so desired behaviours are encouraged. |
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Employee Outcome |
Ambitious employees expect a promotion as a demonstration that they are valued. But sometimes, these employees are not ready for their new jobs. Other times, their performance lags when they get complacent, forming a blockage on the corporate ladder. When this system is working properly, employees compete against one another for promotions. Productivity and innovation are both hampered. |
Employees know that when they work together to achieve their goals, they will all be recognized, rewarded and further developed for success. They also know and understand that promotions are strategic business decisions made in their collective best interest. When this system is working properly, employees work together to achieve the results they all desire. Productivity and innovation are both enhanced. All employees feel valued. |
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