Incentive PayTotal CompensationHRM/324Incentive PayIncentive plans, also known as variable pay, were developed to reward employees for doing their job well. This is in addition to their base pay. Incentive plans take into considerationboth individual and team results. The criteria that employees need to meet to qualify for incentive pay includes good performance and positive results. Incentive plans often are marked with goals that are a result of benchmarks. Benchmarking is a process that promotes self-improvement in an employee and an organization. In using the benchmarking tool, the organization can compare itself with others and realize its strengths and weaknesses; resulting in greater productivity.Providing incentive plans is beneficial to both employers and employees. Employers benefit from incentive plans by attracting and retaining good employees. They can reward them when the company performs well in the hopes to give them incentive to keep working hard. Employees find this beneficial because they get rewarded for performing well. Incentive plans promote exceptional behavior, and encourage company loyalty. Incentive plans are presented in a variety of different ways, such as bonuses, free vacations, profit sharing, stock options, and sales commission. Incentive plans are sometimes increased if an employee is long standing with a company, however the dynamics may also be increased. One example could be an employee who works in sales may make their bonus, and then the goal may be increased to create more of a challenge for the employee to reach the set goal. Therefore, the incentive or reward is greater but so is the goal.CorryMy company doesn't partake in incentive plans so I will speak to my husband's company.He is in sales of Anheuser Busch (AB) products and distributes other alcoholic and non-alcoholicbeverages. AB sets sales goals for him and others in his position around the country as a Key Account Manager. They set incentives such as free trips to Jamaica, NYC, the Bud Light Party cruise and also cash incentives. Both individual and group incentive plans are offered to his company. Both AB and his company set sales goals that are easily measured. These incentives are very motivating to employees. In reference to us, we wouldn't be able to go on all thesevacations if we had to pay for them. It is a great getaway for us and my husband loves the competition and the sense of satisfaction he gets when he wins these incentives. His company shares the wealth with their employees too by offering incentive pay to employees when the company has performed well.Maria My organization does have incentive plans. The incentive plans for my organization is used to reward employees for their performance and efforts and includes different types of awards. My organization offers Performance awards, Special Act or Service Awards, On-the-Spot Cash Award, Length of Service Awards, Honorary Awards, Employee Recognition Program, and Time off Incentive Awards. The performance awards are used to recognize outstanding performers and are used in conjunction to the annual performance evaluation cycle. The Special Act or Service Awards is given to an employee for participating for a specific event unique to the organization that goes above and beyond of the assigned duties. On-the –Spot CashAward is used to award an employee for participating for a specific event or situation that resulted in a unique contribution to the organization. The Length of Services is awarded to employees that have been working for the organization for a length of time. Honorary Awards are given in accordance to the organizations policies. The Employee Recognition Program is used to recognize outstanding performers on a quarterly and annual base. The Time off IncentiveAward is given to recognize superior accomplishment, personal effort, or contribution to the operation. This award does not affect the loss of pay or charge of leave to the award recipients. These plans are motivational to the employees for this incentive pay program offers different types of awards that are beneficial to the employees. This is a good way to retain employees.TiffanyMy company offers incentive plans, such as bonuses or stock options. The bonuses include a trimester bonus; these are based off of certain goals that they have to meet within the job, therefore if these goals are not met they will not receive a bonus for that specific trimester. The trimester bonuses are definitely an incentive for employees to perform well and stay on top of their game. The company also offers stock options to associates based on position, salary, and years of service. The stock option incentive helps the company to retain good employees. Employees have the opportunity within a specific period to purchase company stock at a set price regardless of the current-market stock price. The cost of the stock option will stay the same price as the issued date, but the value will increase over the years. For example, the company offers a $10,000 dollar stock option and in five to ten years when you exercise or purchase the option it may be worth double, but the employee will only pay $10,000 dollars to purchase the option. Of course, the higher salary and position you hold, the higher the amount of stock optionsthey can obtain.DanielleMy organization has incentive plans in a few different forms. However, only the sales staff is privy to these incentives. The sales staff has personal goals that they must meet daily, weekly, and monthly. The general manager also has goals, and some of hers fit into the goals of the sales staff. Each sales staff receives a commission off of each sale they make. There is also a location goal, where if the location makes its quota the sales staff and general manager receive a bonus. There is an organization bonus where if all the locations meet the goal,then the company meets the goal and all sales staff is included on that bonus as well. Also there are giveaway contest and these usually include other staff as well as sales. Then the staff canmake sales of certain programs and there is a contest held; the winner may receive an Ipad. The organization also does yearly all paid trips for the top sellers in the company. ConclusionThe common theme among the incentive plans within our chosen organizations are that employers definitely utilize incentive plans to reward top performers and to help retain them. The