Triggers and hurdles and cliffs, oh my! To be clear, I’m talking about pay plan mechanics and in particular about the kind of cliff that plays an … Read more

Ann Bares is the Managing Partner of Altura Consulting Group. She has over 20 years of experience consulting in compensation and performance management and has worked with a variety of organizations in auditing, designing and implementing executive compensation plans, base salary structures, variable and incentive compensation programs, sales compensation programs, and performance management systems.
Her clients have included public and privately held businesses, both for-profit and not-for-profit organizations, early stage entrepreneurial organizations and larger established companies. Ann also teaches at the University of Minnesota and Concordia University.
Contact her at abares@alturaconsultinggroup.com.
Triggers and hurdles and cliffs, oh my! To be clear, I’m talking about pay plan mechanics and in particular about the kind of cliff that plays an … Read more
You have a not-so-silent partner in your compensation communication efforts. That partner? Your pay program itself. That’s because compensation … Read more
Incentives remain one of the most powerful, and yet also one of the most misapplied, management tools out there. While research has shown that group … Read more
Many pay surveys routinely collect and report salary range minimums, midpoints and maximums. This data can provide helpful context, but it is also at risk … Read more
I like to argue that we should be holding our compensation programs – and the money they represent – to a higher standard. Research examining … Read more
How big should your HR staff and budget be? While this is a question best answered in the context of your unique talent strategy — what it will take … Read more
In a variety of settings and for a variety of reasons, we see jobs that are essentially hybrids; that is, they cover a combination of functions that are … Read more
One of the challenges in compensation design and management is building programs that reward workers fairly, competitively and in ways that engage them in … Read more
I’ve had an important lesson reinforced for me. I’m reminded again, via many conversations with employees and managers, of the wide range of … Read more
Jack Stack, founder, president and CEO of SRC Holdings, and the author of The Great Game of Business and considered by many to be the father of open-book … Read more
What is the worst thing you can do to an employee? According to management consultants Doug and Polly White, authors of the article “The Worst Thing … Read more
There’s no greater disservice to employees than trying to sell them a piece of fiction about the nature of their relationship with their employer. … Read more
As we develop and put in place ever more sophisticated talent management tools and systems, featuring increasingly granular tracking systems and flashy, … Read more
I had the chance recently to join a group of HR professionals who serve entrepreneurial, small to mid-sized organizations to talk about the realities and … Read more
We want it both ways as employers. We want workers who keep their skills up-to-date and willingly pursue learning and development. In addition, we also … Read more
Bill Kutik hates the merit matrix and I suspect he is not alone. The merit matrix is not dead — not yet, with recent WorldatWork research confirming … Read more
Ah, management discretion. Leaders often have a great fondness for discretionary rewards, particularly in bonus and incentive plans. And why not? … Read more
Employee retention is a double-edged sword. According to Merriam Webster, in addition to being a sword with two sharp edges, this is defined as something … Read more
The use of sign-on and retention bonuses appears to be at an all-time high, according to a recently released WorldatWork survey on bonus programs and … Read more
There are a number of movements afoot in the world of work that promise to impact the way we pay people. Two in particular may well converge to provide the … Read more