Podcast Category: Performance Management

Episode Summary

You’ve heard all the clichés about performance measures. What gets measured gets managed. Where attention goes, energy flows. And you’ve probably had a business mate tell you they’ve got the right KPIs in place and that’s what truly drives performance.

So you ask yourself: why isn’t it working in our business? Do we have the wrong KPIs, or is there some other problem that we can’t see?

In Episode 7 of Lead to Grow, Tommy unpacks why so many attempts at KPIs and performance measures fail, the common mistakes that occur, and what you should do differently to avoid this happening. We start with the real reasons leaders introduce performance measures in the first place: people working hard completing tasks but not achieving what’s truly valuable, expectations not being clearly set, and employees saying they don’t know what success looks like.

You will learn:

• Why “what gets measured gets managed” is an oversimplification
• The real reason most KPI and OKR systems don’t improve performance
• The critical differences between KPIs and OKRs, and why neither works on its own
• How measuring what’s easy can undermine trust and motivation
• Why too many KPIs dilute focus and kill follow-through
• The hidden cost of set-and-forget performance systems
• Why performance measures must be part of a broader people system
• The five practical steps leaders can take to make performance systems work
• How poor follow-up and weak leadership conversations derail good intentions
• Why context matters more than frameworks in performance management

Episode Summary

Incentive schemes are everywhere in business. Bonuses. Commissions. Short-term rewards designed to drive performance.

And yet, for so many leaders, these beautifully designed schemes quietly fail to deliver what they promise. Worse, the unintended consequences often outweigh the benefits.

In this episode of Lead to Grow, we unpack the dark art of incentive schemes and why so many well-intentioned reward structures distort behaviour, damage motivation, and fail to improve real performance.

This is not an argument against incentives. It is a practical guide to when they work, when they fail, and how to design them intelligently if you choose to use them.

You will learn:

• Why leaders fall in love with incentive schemes and why they are often overused
•  The difference between improving performance and simply redirecting effort
• Why money is a blunt instrument for motivation
• The intrinsic vs extrinsic motivation equation and why it matters
• How incentives can quietly reduce job satisfaction and engagement
• When incentives actually make sense and when they backfire
• Why complexity kills most incentive schemes
• How poorly designed schemes distort behaviour and damage trust
• The downside risks most leaders never anticipate
• Why incentives rarely fix capability, culture, or leadership problems

We also break down where incentive schemes can work, particularly in sales and output-driven roles, and how to think about:

• Whether a role is genuinely suitable for incentives
• Pay splits and what ratios make sense
• Thresholds and why 75% matters
• Caps vs uncapped schemes
• Time horizons and payment frequency
• Rules, edge cases, and why clarity matters
• Retention vs attraction dynamics
• Designing schemes that are actually self-funding

Finally, we outline the hallmarks of a well-designed incentive scheme, including:

• Job simplicity
• Line of sight
• Pay split alignment
• Caps and escalation
• Rules and edge cases
• Time horizons
• Thresholds
• Management discretion
• Base salary alignment

The core message is simple:
Incentive schemes are powerful, but they are blunt instruments. They are the exclamation mark, not the sentence.

When used well, they create clarity and focus.
When used poorly, they distort behaviour, undermine motivation, and create long-term problems disguised as short-term gains.

If you are considering implementing an incentive scheme, or questioning whether your current one is actually working, this episode will help you avoid expensive trial and error.

Connect with us:

• Tommy Sim: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tommysim/

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/injecthr

• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@injecthr
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/inject.hr/