Section Four
TRW provides the following team-based compensation:“We have something going on called Project
ELITE [Earnings Leadership in Tomorrow’s
Environment],” says director of compensation
Harvey Minkoff, “where a number of people there
are temporarily assigned to the effort, and it’s
expected they’ll return to their units or to a fill-
time permanent position sometime in the future.
We have established specific goals for that
project, and each individual, in turn, has
established specific goals. A significant portion of
their pay is tied to the accomplishment of their
goals and the accomplishment of their
organization’s goals.” This could range from
10 percent for lower-paid workers to 25 percent
for those at higher levels. (Why do lower-paid
workers get less?) The thinking is that they
should be exposed to less risk in their total
compensation packages than should higher-paid
workers.^12Interestingly, the larger organization should have high
performance standards before teams can be expected to
produce at a high level. Managers also need to be aware that a
substantial amount of time is often required for the