The Concept of Pay-for-Performance

Pay-for-performance programs are expected to expand across the United States health care in the near future, especially with the implementation of the Affordable Care Act. The pay-for-performance is going to continue to increase the quality of health care that the patient receives from their

Pay-for-performance plans are formal compensation systems that are directly related to organizational or individual performance. The United States Department of Labor defined pay-for-performance as a raise in pay based on a set of criteria put in place by employers, and notes that the Fair Labor Standards Act,

For the most part, a company’s compensation policy aims to ensure that employees are compensated in a fair and competitive manner. However, the compensation objectives employed by different companies can vary widely. This is especially true when taking into account wages vs. skills, competitor salaries, pay-for-performance, and other elements of compensation, like overtime, incentives, etc. (Snell, Morris, & Bohlander, 2015).

A non-competitive compensation package however would result in making it harder for an organization or employers to attract and hire those with talent and skills (Ghosh&Satyawadi, 2013). As with everything else in this world, an attractive compensation and benefits package is subjective and is different from field to field. The compensation should also be in line with on the job factors such as difficulty, working hours and so

Good performance is rewarded through timely job promotions, special recognition and in some cases monetary rewards and incentives.

Although the "pay" in "pay for performance" can refer to any of the more traditional components of reward programs, the organization should look beyond its current forms of compensation and consider whether additional approaches might work best in the long term.

I’ve completed extensive research on various compensation strategies within similar types of organizations and have arrived at three specific strategies that our organization should consider adopting:

A Performance-Based Pay system is an increasingly popular compensation method used by organizations to increase productivity. A goal for all companies is to try and remain competitive and control costs, this is a reason for performance-based pay systems becoming more popular. This type of system attempts to link compensation to performance. (Gena Richter, 2002) These systems are directly tied to organization or individual performance and are most effective when based on objective measures of quantity or quality of performance. If we wish to have a direct impact on work motivation, it must be linked directly to the performance of desired behaviors. In order for to put this type of system into place, performance evaluations must be conducted regularly , as well as training and development for those with performance that isn't quite up to par. These additional resources will be necessary for our organization if we implement a performance based pay system. (William B. Bernathy, Ph. D., 2004)

A well-articulated compensation philosophy drives organizational success by aligning pay and other rewards with business strategy. It provides the foundation for plan design and administration and anchors current and future plans to the company's culture and values (Kaplan, 2006, p.32). Recognizing and rewarding achievement is the cornerstone of the company A’s compensation philosophy. The mission of the company is to attract, select, place and promote all individuals based on their qualifications. The company believes that performance-based compensation helps attract, develop and retain talented professionals. In addition to base pay which based upon local market conditions and targeted to be above market, the company provides the following types of potential compensation to reward performance:

The company’s compensation programs are result oriented market focused and flexible. Pay for Performance is one of the key compensation program, which includes various pay, benefits and special programs offered by the company.

Pay for performance systems have further been proven to have two advantages for organizations: attracting more high-quality employees and motivating employees to exert more effort at their jobs. (Gordon, Kaswin) This paper will show the positive benefits of performance pay as

O’Neil (1998) suggests six minimal criteria for the design of a performance based pay system. The first of these criteria is that the reward system should be self-funding, that is, the performance increases should as a minimum offset the cost of the rewards provided. The second criterion is that the distribution of the rewards must be consistent, fair and justifiable. In addition reward plans must be transparent and clearly communicated. The third criterion

Recognizing and rewarding high-performance is a key recommendation for any approach when managing any merit pay program (HRIS 2012). Merit pay is a compensation system where base pay increases and is determined by an individual’s performance. Using a merit pay plan is a good way for an organization to reward high performance is one benefit when using merit pay programs. The first step in implementing or improving a merit pay program is to have a solid performance management program, and this is another way a merit pay program is beneficial. Merit pay is a way to be successful and effectively implement merit pay with a uplift in salaries, and this is a third way using a merit pay program is beneficial to an organization. There are some drawbacks when using merit pay programs, such as paying some employees more than others. If you pay high-performing workers more than low- performing employees, the high- performers may stay, causing the low- performers to complain or leave the organization. A second drawback in using merit pay program is that employees become less motivated if not paid to their satisfaction. For example, if employees feel they should be making more money for their performance, this causes them to have low self esteem, and want to find employment at other organization. The last drawback associated with

Although research generally confirms that pay-for-performance plans can influence greater outcomes, it is unclear how effective different pay plans are relative to each other (Park, 2012). Like most things in business, compensation is something that requires evaluation, study, assessment, strategy, modeling and integration.  Achieving a pay for performance culture does not happen without paying attention to the behaviors, activities, rewards and motivations that have to be linked and reinforced through a well engineered and successfully executed process.  Actually if that process does not tie rewards to shareholder financial objectives, employ the proper mix of compensation elements, result in meaningful dollars, embrace performance that employees can impact and are effectively communicated and reinforced, then the results it produces will likely fall short (Vision Link Advisory Group, 2013).

Pay for performance is to link employees’ salary or salary increase to his or her performance. It seems to be a reasonable or attractive idea but it often does not work well in organizations. Please use at least 4 motivation theories or models to explain why pay for performance may not work as expected—particularly in government and nonprofit organizations.