As star workers vie for the top spots in the sales workforce, employers should note the importance of merit increases as a way to reward these high-performing employees. Although companies commonly give out bonuses and other short-term forms of incentive compensation, there are rewards that have a more long-term goal of shaping employee career development, including merit increases that come with promotions.
E. James Brennan, senior associate of ERI Economic Research Institute, said promotions are often considered workplace rewards, TLNT reported. Employers can even use promotions in place of regular rewards or pay for performance programs. Promotions as employee rewards could be an effective way to elevate workplace productivity and help increase sales if managers reward the right people.
When to reward merit increases
With employees requesting more pay increases and promotions now than in the past couple of years, according to a recent survey by Accountemps, employees could fulfill their and their employees’ goals by offering merit increases. This type of sales performance incentive can help boost employee motivation and give them a long-term goal to achieve.
Managers could reward pay raises once employees are promoted, but one of the problems management usually encounters is deciding who to name for advancement. Managers who are deciding on whether employees are deserving of promotions should look to sales performance software to accurately record and report on employee productivity levels.
Providing a detailed measure of employee achievements will give managers a clearer picture when deciding whether to promote employees. Management should evaluate sales effectiveness metrics like total sales per salesperson or the conversion rate achieved by individual salespeople.
When workers hit all their sales quotas and consistently earn high marks for their sales effectiveness metrics, it’s natural for managers to recommend them for promotion and give them a merit increase. This advancement in pay could, in turn, have a positive impact not only on individual employees, but also the workplace as a whole.
The effect of promotions for employee morale and the company
Brennan notes that merit increases and promotions can do more than increase employee morale. These incentives can actually affect workers’ confidence with job assignments and projects with the company in the future, according to TLNT. Employees who are rewarded with promotions are more sure with their decisions, which could result in a more positive effect on the rest of the department and better shape the direction of the company.
