Making the Team: A Guide for Managers

Chapter 3. Rewarding Teamwork: Compensation and Performance Appraisals

At Johnsonville Foods Company, a midsize sausage maker, slipping behind in production can cost workers money. The company's 725 employees operate in self-managed teams and divide up profit-sharing bonuses each month. Teams split the cash based on how well members have satisfied customers and achieved previously negotiated goals. Here, actions speak louder than words. For example, when several headquarters staffers failed to deliver a financial analysis to the food-service division on time, teammates returned 20 percent of some members' expected bonuses to the corporation. What do team members think of the system? “Alternately, we are all very happy with this system and unhappy ...