Many organizations say they want pay for performance, yet their compensation plans still reward volume, produce inconsistent attainment results, or fail to differentiate top performers. The instinct is often to redesign the plan. In practice, the underlying problem is frequently the process used to make compensation decisions.

This workshop explores both sides of the challenge. Participants will examine practical ways to diagnose whether a compensation plan truly pays for performance, using analyses such as payout versus performance relationships, attainment distributions, and signals of metric misalignment. The session then draws on a real case study of an organization that struggled with chaotic design cycles, unclear ownership, and executive conflict before rebuilding its compensation process with clear governance, roles, and decision rights.

Attendees will work through a practical framework that connects compensation diagnostics with the organizational structures required to act on them. Participants will leave with tools to evaluate their plans, guide redesign decisions, and lead more effective cross functional compensation design discussions.