We've heard a lot of talk about incentive plans for employees. Do you have any suggestions or recommendations on implementing these kinds of programs?

William N. Topaz
Former President and CEO myownbusiness.org

We've heard a lot of talk about incentive plans for employees. Do you have any suggestions or recommendations on implementing these kinds of programs?

A lot of businesses be it large or small use incentive compensation plans to reward employees for their performance and behavior and whether its sales bonuses or commissions, those kinds of things. They should never be done independently just by themselves. Try to incorporate them into a larger company or corporate goal; for instance if one of your plans for the next year is that you want to get new customers maybe you want to offer your employees, your sales people a higher commission rate or a higher incentive rate for new customers that they bring in as opposed to just ongoing business. So take a look at the incentive plans, look at your goal for the next year or two and try and calibrate, try and coordinate your incentive plan and align them with your overall strategic plan.