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OPINION
Incentive plans for employees should align unique performance measures with organizational success to drive retention, engagement, and results. Driving performance and success
W hat does employee performance really mean? The next time you are in a meeting with your peers, ask each person to describe employee performance. Inevitably, the answers will vary from one person to another, and if you ask the same question in a different group setting, you will continue to get more items to add to the list. Is it about time management? Quality and quantity of work? Client satisfaction? The truth is that performance looks different in every organization and every discipline.
Kristi Weierbach, Ph.D, SPHR, SHRM-SCP
That variability makes one thing clear: attracting, motivating, and retaining top talent isn’t just about base pay and benefits anymore. It’s about building incentive plans for employees that truly connect performance with organizational success. THE KEY TO INCENTIVES IS UNDERSTANDING PERFORMANCE. At its core, employee performance is defined as the accumulation of ideas and abilities used in carrying out certain work to produce various outputs by existing provisions of the organization. An employee’s effectiveness and efficiency in carrying out their responsibilities (Digital Behavior and Impact on Employee Performance: Evidence from Indonesia).
When companies do not have standard operating procedures related to performance, there is more flexibility, freedom, and potential inconsistencies in how the work is performed. How employees use their time, the expected quality and quantity of work, and the way in which the work is performed will vary from one organization to another and even from role to role, and project to project. It’s definitely not one-size-fits-all. Think about it:
See KRISTI WEIERBACH, page 4
THE ZWEIG LETTER SEPTEMBER 8, 2025, ISSUE 1600
ELEVATE THE INDUSTRY®
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