As the NFL’s Denver Broncos and Seattle Seahawks gear up for the Super Bowl, players and fans know that the most important game of the year can have a great impact on player reputations. A heroic game can elevate a footballer’s stock whether he’s a star or a role player, while a poor showing can lead many to conclude that he’s not up to the task of performing his best when the pressure’s on. The way that players drive their personal stock up has a lot in common with incentive management software. Both put personnel in situations in which they can be more productive and directly contribute to their own compensation. They also both combine the tangible value of monetary compensation directly related to performance with more difficult to define assessment of one’s role within the larger organization.
Critical times become incentives
For the most part, NFL players make a lot more money than the average professional. During the playoffs, however, many players’ earnings are substantially lower than what they receive for an average regular season game. Playoff money is paid from the league, not the team, so earnings go down, according to Forbes. A player on a team that earned a division title and lost in the first round of the playoffs makes $22,000 for the game. For a star player like New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees, this actually represents a $413,000 pay cut from what he would normally make in a game. A player on the eventual loser of the Super Bowl makes $44,000, while a player on the winning side earns $88,000. Even a Super Bowl winner is likely taking much less than his usual per-game value to play in the big game.
One of the major reason players play harder despite making less, of course, is that they know that playoff performance can give them more opportunities for financial windfall in subsequent contracts. This line of thinking is similarly adopted by employees who use incentive management software to show how their all-around job well done or sales performance can kick into higher gear during a crucial, “playoffs” part of the year for the company or sales team.
An example of an NFL employee who leveraged the higher incentives available through a strong playoff showing is Baltimore Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco. A good player during the regular season, Flacco delivered a superstar-level four-game stretch during the 2012-2013 NFL playoffs that helped drive his team to an upset Super Bowl win. Although he did not make much (relatively) for his efforts, which garnered him a Super Bowl MVP award, he was later rewarded with a $120.6 million contract. It made him the highest-paid player in NFL history, according to the Baltimore Sun.
Using incentive management software to find your company’s Flacco
Incentive management software can help an organization identify employees who rise to the occasion at a critical time. If employees understand when their absolute best efforts can make the most impact on organizational development, they are more likely to go the extra mile when they know that their perseverence will be recognized and rewarded. However, software can also help employees quantify their efforts at all times, just like NFL players do in the regular season. Perennially top contributors will be able to demonstrate their consistent efforts and communicate their value by constantly meeting and exceeding expectations.
Just like NFL teams, there are times in the year or in an organization’s development when an extra productivity boost can offer the most help, like the end of a fiscal quarter or during the retailers’ holiday-selling season. Incentive management software gives both employers and employees a means to effectively communicate the organization’s challenges and gives personnel a road map to demonstrate their efforts.
