Results are the most tangible and readily measurable of the horizontal dimensions of performance. Hence, we shall begin our discussion at the end, by examining those approaches to performance management that are results-focused. This includes individual results as well as those associated with group and organisation-wide results. The chapter begins with an overview of those facets of work performance that are commonly characterised as ‘results’. Next we consider some of the key concepts associated with defining and measuring results, the promise and perils of results measurement, and the requirements for measurement reliability. The remainder of the chapter is then devoted to a discussion of two of the most widely applied results-based performance measurement and management methods, namely goal-setting and the balanced scorecard.

The Earth is continuously being deformed due to forces related to earthquakes, surface loads such as ice-sheets, the gravitational attraction to other planets, and many other phenomena. The relation between forces and the resulting style of deformation defines the rheology of a material. While the Earth behaves nearly like elastic rubber at short timescales from seconds to years, large parts of it can be treated as a liquid when studied over geologic timescales exceeding millennia. In this chapter we provide a detailed introduction to the various deformation styles of the Earth and their relevance to a wide range of processes, including the propagation of seismic waves, the deformation of the lithosphere near mountain ranges and subduction zones, and convective flow in the mantle.

The previous chapter examined the range of reward plans associated with the recognition and reward of individual behaviour and/or results. This chapter focuses on plans where reward outcomes are contingent on measures of collective results; that is, on collective incentive plans. Because such plans are generally geared to measures of group results over a relatively brief time frame – typically monthly, quarterly or annually – they are also known as collective or group short-term incentive plans, or ‘STIs’.

We begin our exploration of collective STIs by outlining the general rationale for such plans and by overviewing the four main plan types: profit-sharing, gainsharing, goal-sharing and team incentives. Subsequent sections explore each of these four plan types in more detail, noting the advantages and disadvantages of each. Consistent with the approach taken in earlier chapters, a final section considers the strategic priorities to which each plan type would be most and least appropriate.

Chapter 1 introduced the basic ‘tools’ of performance and reward management, including key aspects of purpose and practice. In this chapter we introduce two overarching concepts of alignment that recur throughout this book: ‘strategic alignment’ and ‘psychological engagement’. The design, implementation and maintenance of effective performance and reward management systems requires simultaneous, systematic and constant attention to both of these dimensions of alignment.

‘Strategic alignment’ refers to the plans, processes and actions involved in establishing and maintaining an alignment between an organisation’s overarching purpose or intent and how it manages employee performance and reward, as well as all other aspects of people management.

In chapter 2, we focused on managing for results, especially through measuring performance outputs. In this chapter, we examine the assessment processes and techniques associated with the management of work behaviour and related outcomes. As a consequence, we will highlight the strengths, weaknesses and criticisms of these assessment methods. Subsequently, we also examine the situations in which each may be the most and least appropriate. In assessing the management of work behaviours, we consider sources of performance appraisal information, methods and some common flaws. Examined in a systems perspective, we discuss both a behaviour (i.e. process) and competency (i.e. input) approach to the appraisal of individual performance as they relate to desired work behaviour and results. While measuring individual performance 95is often considered a traditional and well understood human resource management practice, an important consideration to keep in mind throughout this chapter is: exactly how do measuring work behaviours and individual competencies shape subsequent behaviour?

In this chapter, we examine employee share ownership (ESO) as an example of a collective long-term incentive. An employee share plan is any type of plan that allows some or all employees to acquire shares in the organisation that employs them (Klein 1987). We begin with an overview of the nature and extent of employee share ownership in Western countries. We investigate the theoretical rationale for employee share ownership before examining the empirical research on impact of share plans on organisational performance and employee attitudes and behaviours. Finally, we consider the relationship between employee share ownership and other HR practices, with a particular focus on other forms of performance-related pay.

Rocks contain a tiny proportion of magnetic minerals that make them weakly magnetic. Some are magnetized in the direction of the magnetic field in which they formed. By analyzing this direction, the position of a virtual geomagnetic pole (VGP) at the time the rock formed can be located. Connecting the VGP for rocks with different ages from the same continent gives a curve of apparent polar wander (APW), which results from the motion of the continent relative to the rotation axis. Comparing APW paths for different continents reveals a history of relative motions and allows the reconstruction of past supercontinents. The paleomagnetic field has reversed polarity numerous times in the geological past, leaving a record of geomagnetic polarity in the magnetizations of rocks. Polarity reversals cause oceanic magnetic anomalies, which are important for understanding plate tectonics and also form the basis of a geomagnetic polarity timescale for the past 230 Myr.