TM - August 2008 - (Page 56)

PERFORMANCE cont. from page 35 “To do that, use the high-skilled professional immigration system,” she said. “Longer term, there is real value in having people from all over the globe working here in the U.S. for the global linkages and the exchange of ideas they provide. It is a shortterm need and a long-term development issue.” Businesses Should Advocate for Change Torres recommended business make their voices heard on immigration to push for reform that will help, rather than hinder, commerce. “What the partnership is trying to do with its membership and similar organizations across the nation, is to mobilize the people who feel strongly that this is negatively impacting their competitiveness to make their voices heard,” she said. If that happens, when the time comes for Congress to again turn its attention to immigration reform, there will be a coalition of groups delivering the same consistent message. Laird Technology’s Koenig agrees. She said advocacy should take place on multiple levels, starting with the C-suite. “It’s really important as HR practitioners that we are active in lobbying, active in our positioning and that we don’t just take a passive view that, ‘It is what it is and we have to live with it,’” she said. “It won’t change unless we become very vocal about the impact to our business, and we have to get our CEOs to understand it and think about it and be very active.” Throughout American history, immigration has been a key driver of innovation, economic growth and competitive advantage. Vance said recent developments have the potential to jeopardize that pre-eminent position. “Speaking economically, we do this better than most other countries,” he said. “That’s been our history since we became a nation, and that’s something we should be very careful not to squander. “A lot of countries are not open to immigration. This is something, although we struggle with it, that we have done a better job with than most countries around the world.” APPLICATION continued from page 49 assigned either S3-A, S3-B, S3-C or S3-D, depending on the mix of their sales role. As the target incentive amount increased, the salary range decreased. Yet, the salary range did not decrease as much as the incentive amount increased, which provided a pay differential for employees in higher risk roles, per the market data. As risk increased, employees would typically experience a decrease in salary, but their target earnings opportunity would increase signiﬁcantly, as well. This structural component would later prove instrumental in supporting Motorola’s transition to more aggressively leveraged sales incentive plans. The move to broader grade bands reduced the number of promotional opportunities available in the sales organization. To address this obstacle, the team deﬁned the off-cycle adjustment: a modest salary increase recognized a signiﬁcant increase in responsibilities that did not warrant a grade-level promotion. The promotional increase amounts also were increased to reﬂect broader grade bands. The team also created formal guidelines for transitioning employees on and off of sales incentive plans or between roles with signiﬁcantly different target incentive amounts. This produced a formula to adjust base salary in response to an increase or decrease in the target incentive amount. Finally, the team established formal linkages to the company’s standard grade structure (one company grade equivalent for each S-grade level) to ensure grade-dependent beneﬁts were properly maintained. The Motorola team successfully deﬁned and implemented the new structure and supporting policies within 12 months in more than 60 countries, including countries with regional labor groups such as Germany’s Works Council. The consistent global structure allows sales, HR and ﬁnance leaders to more accurately assess reward programs’ effectiveness. Opportunities for improvement were addressed the same year the new S-grade structure was implemented. The sales rewards team provided benchmark data to suggest a variable car allowance would provide the most appropriate reimbursement for business mileage. Motorola signed a contract with Runzheimer International to provide a tax-free variable allowance to U.S. sales and services employees who drove more than 5,000 miles each year. Employees provided with company cars or ﬁxed car allowances in the past were transitioned to the new program. Benchmarking also suggested Motorola should replace existing reward trips that varied by business and region with one global top achievers trip. The trip, implemented the same year, provided an opportunity for Motorola’s senior leadership team to recognize outstanding results. In the following years, Motorola’s sales rewards team turned its attention to the sales incentive plan, establishing and implementing global design guidelines and a consistent framework for administration and governance. Today, the global hierarchy and pay grade structure that laid the foundation for important work in sales rewards continues to support talent mobility and ensure competitive and equitable pay. Sales representatives and their managers have a clear understanding of their career paths at Motorola and the behaviors and performance levels that deﬁne success. Erin Smith, CCP is global practice leader of sales rewards at Motorola , Inc. She can be reached at editor@talentmgt.com. 56 August 2008 talent management magazine www.talentmgt.com http://www.talentmgt.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of TM - August 2008

TM - August 2008 Editor's Letter Contents Human Performance Leading Edge Foundations Global Background Screening Does Global Assessment Work? Global Total Renumeration: Creat One Organization Border Insecurity: Immigration Reform and Talent Management The Global Workforce: Communication Across Cultures Around the World in How Many Days? Insight: Exelon: Performance Under Pressure Special Report: Perspectives on Managing People Application: Reinventing Sales Rewards at Motorola Dashboard: Mideast Meets West Dashboard: Mergers and Acquisitions 2008 - Don’t Leave Employees Behind Editorial Resources Advertisers' Index Full Potential

TM - August 2008

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