From the Ask Tom mailbag:

Question:
Can you expand on the "Time Span" "compensation banding" approach? I am not familiar with this concept and do not fully understand what is meant by either term.

Response:
Time Span is a recurring theme in this blog and in our leadership program (Working Leadership Online). Time Span is the cornerstone of the management research conducted by Elliott Jaques from the early 1950's until his death in 2003. This research is documented in 26 books written during his lifetime and remains the most coherent and potent foundation for organizational design on the planet.

If you can see a goal, as a "what, by when," then you can understand Time Span. Time Span is the time element in any goal statement. All behavior is goal-directed behavior, so Time Span touches everything we do. Most importantly, for managers, Time Span helps us understand the complexity of any goal. The longer the Time Span of the goal, the higher its complexity. The shorter the Time Span of the goal, less complexity.

We can also understand the complexity of any role in the organization by examination of their longest Time Span tasks (goals). The Time Span of the longest tasks in a role are a direct indicator of the complexity of the role. By calibrating the Time Span of the tasks in the roles inside your organization, you will be able to accurately identify and rank those roles according to complexity.

Pay banding looks at the those Time Spans and recognizes fair compensation. The longer the Time Span of the tasks (goals) in a role, the higher the compensation. Pay banding is a straightforward correlation of fair compensation for increasingly longer Time Span roles. Once you have determined fair compensation based on Time Span, discussions related to the value of roles can be put to rest and we can get back to work.

An in-depth explanation, along with defined pay bands can be found in Social Power and the CEO, on pages 55-56. If you have more questions, Ask Tom.

I would like to collect a story from you.

There is a brew-ha-ha brewing over at Aubrey Daniels' blog about such things as reward vs reinforcement vs motivation. This got started as Dan Pink's Drive hit bookstores. Aubrey was puzzled over some of Pink's observations.

"Contrary to what Pink asserts in his book, the surprising truth about what motivates us is that reinforcement always works, but not always as it is intended. The science of behavior has validated that fact in thousands of research studies over the last century. You don’t always get more of the behavior you reward, but you always get more of any behavior that is reinforced. That is true today and it was true thousands of years ago. If creative behavior is reinforced, you (the company, the person) will do more of it. Count on it. When work environments are properly arranged to produce positive reinforcers for highly productive, creative outcomes, they always do produce such outcomes."

So, here is the story I would like to collect from you. What reward system have you tried in the past, that produced unintended consequences? Post your story at Ask Tom and then we can kick the can around.

From the Ask Tom mailbag:

Question:
I learned today that my salary, as a manager of a department, is less than the people on my department team. My boss told me that adjustments will be made during my review. What is the best way to deal with this without feeling betrayed by my employer? I have been with the company fewer years, but promoted twice and my skills far exceed those on my team.

Response:
Your situation is not unusual. Most companies have only an intuitive idea about appropriate compensation and much less of an idea when asked to explain their compensation structure. Curing a compensation structure that is out of whack is quite difficult.

This is complicated by the fact that compensation gets wrapped up in the self concept of a person's value. Not the case. Compensation must be based on the contribution of the role. The person may have higher capability and the potential to play a higher role, but it is the role that commands the compensation, not the person.

Elliott Jaques was quite specific and clear on the subject of compensation. He offers a simple basis for compensation banding with Time Span as the metric. Compensation, in Jaques model, is directly tied to the effective Time Span responsibilities in the role. And in your case, as a manager, your task assignments (goals) would necessarily have longer Time Spans associated. This would command a higher pay band than those on your team.

Your employer gets the benefit of the doubt on this one, acknowledging that an adjustment is appropriate. And it is likely to take some time to fix this systemic misunderstanding. And an even longer time for your boss to understand why.

Yesterday, we kicked off our new Subject Area in our Working Leadership Program, Goals, the Essence of Time Span.

This community is growing. We currently have 81 members with an additional 72 people participating in the Free Trial. This activity level is unbelievable and we would like to share it with you. We are going to hold our Free Trial open for two more days. Follow this link to Working Leadership Free Trial.

Here is what we know about our community.

1. Our participants have a day job, as a manager.
2. Our participants are really busy.
3. Our participants want to be more effective, now.

This is Real
Working Leadership Online is practical. There are no quizzes or tests. There is no make-work. This is not extra work. The Field Work is real.

At Your Pace
Participants login on their schedule.

Unforgettable
The problem with most training programs is they stop. After a few classes, it's over, good luck. Working Leadership Online goes year-round. It changes the way you think about your role as a manager.

How This Works
Your first Subject Area is on us. Then you decide. We are holding the next 50 slots. Word is already on the street, so we expect to close this offer in the next few days.

Here's Some Feedback

This program is anti-matter to today's barage of costly management solutions. The program covered a great deal of critical leadership material that managers can immediately benefit from. -Cathy Darby

Some people live online and I'm not one of them. I'd much rather be in a human presence. Having said that, after Tom's first response he won me over. His honesty and feedback is invaluable. -Jane Hein

There's a lot of valuable information in this course that isn't easily available elsewhere, and the coaching from Tom in addition to accountability for actually carrying out the assignments makes for a solid learning experience. Keep up the good work. The online format makes the course accessible, and makes it easy to put into practice directly in a work environment. -Erik LaBianca

www.workingleadership.com

Here is the schedule for the coming year.

2010 Subject Area Schedule (Total 15 Subject Areas in 2010)

• Jan 11 - Planning - Your 2010 Business Plan - COMPLETED
• Feb 1 - Goal Setting - The Essence of Time Span
• Feb 22 - Decision Making - Time Span of Discretion
• Mar 15 - Managing Time - Managing Yourself
• Apr 5 - Spring Break
• Apr 12 - Communication - Mineral Rights Conversation
• May 3 - Delegation - Leveraging Time Span Capability
• May 24 - Control Systems and Feedback Loops
• Jun 14 - Team Problem Solving - Time Span Inside a Team
• Jul 5 - Summer Break
• Jul 12 - Coaching - Bringing Value as a Manager
• Aug 2 - Coaching Underperformance - Time Span and the Employment Contract
• Aug 23 - Coaching High Performance - Time Span and Maximum Capability
• Sep 13 - Fall Break
• Sep 20 - Managerial Authorities - Time Span and Accountability
• Oct 11 - Managerial Authorities - Time Span and Hiring Talent
• Nov 1- Time Span and Effectiveness
• Nov 22 - Break (Thanksgiving USA)
• Nov 29 - Bringing Out the Best In People
• Dec 20-Jan 9, 2011 Winter Break

Reserve your spot today - Working Leadership Free Trial

From the Ask Tom mailbag:

Question:
One of my biggest frustrations, as a manager, is the expectation from the people that report to me that I 'spoon feed' them answers to all of the problems and challenges that they face. Do I have the wrong people? How can I get out of this trap?

Response:
Your solution is in your question. You are spoon feeding them the wrong stuff. When you provide answers to your team, you are creating a co-dependent relationship that you turns you into Radio Shack (you've got questions, we've got answers). You are actually training them NOT to solve their problems, but to bring them to you for solutions.

So, STOP it.

Every team member is entitled to have a competent manager, with the Time Span capability to bring value to their problem solving and decision making.

As a manager, you do NOT bring value by spoon feeding answers. Learning happens through questions, not answers. As a manager, your greatest value is in the questions you ask your team members. And if you are not getting the response you want, then you are asking the wrong questions.