2004

Contents

Building and Keeping Your Dream Team

Practical Steps to Designing an Effective Bonus

Building and Keeping Your Dream Team

By Roy Hildebrand, Elite Swine Inc,

Introduction
To be team builders, means to look at ourselves and determine where we need to change so that we can lead by example. Next, we must learn to be effective in transposing our positive attributes into the teams we are building. It is apparent that the success of any business is completely dependent on the ability of its leaders, to recruit, and develop suitable individuals into team players with a common goal.

Philosophy
Successful teambuilding will require a formal process, which does not allow for shortcuts or omissions to the process. Although we sometimes feel pressure to fill a position, to reach the overall goal of successful teambuilding, it is imperative to allow sufficient time to follow the steps in the process.

Identification
In the opening steps of team building, you should have a clear picture regarding what position needs to be filled and how this position is expected to contribute, to the success of the team. Normally it will be relatively easy to identify the need. Usually it will take a little more thought and review to understand what type of individual is required to ensure the success of the team. Although all successful teams may share some common strength, each team in itself is also unique. It is important for the hiring manager to have a good understanding of the functionality of the team as well as the individual character of the team and its members.

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Practical Steps to Designing an Effective Bonus

By Ben Woolley, Sunterra Farms Ltd.

Introduction
Many people believe that the implementation of a bonus will be all that is needed to motivate employees to achieve the Company’s goals. This is certainly not the case. Bonuses are only a small part of an overall management strategy, carefully put together to train and motivate employees to excel.

Managers must spend time deciding what their overall compensation package should be and whether adding a bonus will encourage employees to strive to achieve company objectives. There are many successful companies that have no bonus structure at all, and others that rely very heavily on bonuses to reward good performance.

Three important things to remember about bonuses:

• A bonus is a reward for achievement, not necessarily a motivational tool.

• You can be sure that the employees will strive to achieve the targets set out in the bonus, so it is essential that those targets reflect what it is that drives company profitability and achieves company goals.

• A poorly designed bonus can be a real “de-motivator” for staff. Once the decision has been made to implement a bonus scheme, it is worth spending time designing a bonus structure that will successfully motivate employees.

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Source: Paper presented during the 2004 Banff Pork Seminar Procedings