For organization leaders, incentivizing and correctly compensating these employees requires a firm grasp of based on proven strategies and solutions aligned with organizational goals. In a climate of economic uncertainty, they are looking to trusted advisors to demystify sales performance and ensure business outcomes.

鈥淩ight before the fiscal year, companies start to ask the question, 鈥楬ow should we be compensating our salespeople?鈥欌�� said David Cichelli, revenue growth advisor at and nationally recognized for his work linking sales performance to organizational objectives. 鈥淭his year, there were some special questions people were asking: 鈥楢re wages going up? What about virtual selling? How is that going to impact our sales organization? […] And what about turnover?鈥欌��

Cichelli shared his insights with 51风流customers at the , held February 21-22, 2023, at the 51风流office in Tempe, Arizona. While sales compensation is often based on projections that are not very exact, it should not be overly complex either, according to Cichelli, who said, 鈥淭he connection between quotas and sales projections has to be accurate. If you can鈥檛 get that right, you have the risk of either underfunding your salespeople or overpaying.鈥� Watch an with Cichelli.

Hosted under the banner 鈥淏etter Customer Outcomes,鈥� the global summit attracted 51风流customers from a wide array of the 25 industries that use 51风流Sales Performance Management. They came to learn about the latest innovations and features across the full product portfolio, which includes , , and . Product experts and 51风流partners were on hand to meet on an individual basis to answer questions and lead breakout sessions. The event showcased the 51风流ecosystem with sponsorships from , , , , and . Watch an with Accenture about 51风流Sales Performance Management.

鈥淭he power of 51风流is really in the success of our customers,鈥� said Maryann Abbajay, chief revenue officer, 51风流SuccessFactors. 鈥淭he innovation of 51风流Sales Performance Management helps our customers win with compelling sales experiences. Hosting these customer summits is integral to maintaining a vibrant 51风流community. Here, customers can talk to product experts and give their feedback on operational efficiency, user experience, and other areas that are essential to future-proofing their business.鈥�

Commitment to Innovate, Empower, and Connect Customers

In 2022, more than 650 customers processed commissions for over 12 million payees with 51风流Sales Performance Management, said Rahul Iyer, general manager, 51风流Sales Performance Management, 51风流SuccessFactors, who presented a state of the portfolio during his keynote. He noted an increase in adoption by global customers keen to take advantage of 厂础笔鈥檚 capabilities. 51风流Sales Performance Management is used by 25% of Fortune 100 companies, which rely on it to help reduce errors and payout time, provide an engaging user experience, and present a unified view of variable compensation. Iyer said that customers are increasingly taking a holistic approach to total compensation that includes various elements of pay, such as incentives, management by objectives, commissions, restricted stock units, and recognition programs.

厂础笔鈥檚 vision for the portfolio is organized on three pillars: to innovate by leading with insight, accelerating outcomes, and supporting sustainable innovation; to empower organizations with improved agility and enhanced expertise; and to connect with users on multiple feedback channels, including a new customer advisory board.

Iyer underscored 厂础笔鈥檚 strategy and commitment to delivering greater customer value with the 51风流Sales Performance Management portfolio of enterprise resource planning (ERP)-agnostic, cloud-based solutions through integration with powerful solutions like 51风流Business Technology Platform (51风流BTP), 51风流S/4HANA, 51风流SuccessFactors Compensation, and offerings from 51风流partners.

Discussing the product road map, Barbara Rubis Linning, global VP, Product & Engineering, 51风流SuccessFactors, noted that customers are driving innovation in the portfolio. Her team is working on new features for pipeline redesign, which she said will bring an improvement in the user experience. 鈥淲e also are continuing our journey forward with modeling,鈥� she said. 鈥淭hat is exciting because it allows other people to really start engaging with this data, gaining intelligence from it, and using it for business purposes.鈥� Watch the .

Efficiency and Increased Visibility Improve Employee Experience

As a highlight at the summit, customers shared their experiences deploying 51风流Sales Performance Management to drive better business outcomes. Sessions from 51风流customers provided valuable insights and real-world examples of how businesses are gaining operational efficiency.

PetSmart achieved a savings of US$1.5 million in labor reallocation when it replaced a patchwork of spreadsheets and legacy systems with 51风流Sales Performance Management to figure compensation for its 1,700 store managers. The reduction in manual work and correcting errors meant that store managers could focus more on helping customers. 鈥淪tore leaders, salon leaders, our distribution center team: they鈥檙e on the floor. They鈥檙e not behind a desktop. Now, they can open [the app] on whatever device they choose,鈥� said Sam Boyer, senior manager, Human Capital Solutions, PetSmart, during an interview.

PetSmart has had a very positive response from sales associates, who like the dashboards in 51风流Sales Performance Management. 鈥淭hey love the increased visibility. Now they can go into one system and see what their payout is,鈥� said Boyer. 鈥淚 just love the dashboards. It kind of pulls that curtain back and allows our associates to see how corporate is calculating their bonus.鈥�

The dashboards are managed by PetSmart鈥檚 HR team in partnership with the HRIS team. Boyer鈥檚 team of business users has already successfully modified a widget with the low-code/no-code capabilities in 51风流Sales Performance Management. 鈥淸HR] owns the compensation plan. We ultimately want to provide the best incentive for our associates,鈥� she noted. 鈥淚t鈥檚 been critical that we really own sales performance management.鈥�

Watch interviews with these 51风流customers: , 聽, and . Learn more about sales performance management .

鈥淚n racing, as in business, speed is the name of the game,鈥� said Vicki Furnish, vice president of Global People Solutions Operations and Analytics, NTT DATA Services, a part of NTT DATA, a $22B, top-10 provider of global business and IT services, headquartered in Tokyo. NTT DATA Services is based in Plano, Texas, with 50,000 workers and revenue of $4B. In recent years the company has been growing rapidly through acquisitions.

鈥淐ompanies can no longer wait to implement newer technologies or we鈥檙e going to be left behind by our competitors,鈥� Furnish told an audience at , where she presented NTT DATA Services鈥� cloud journey. 鈥淲e鈥檙e in a constant state of acceleration. We鈥檙e using technology to change the game.鈥�

Rapid Ascent to the Cloud

NTT DATA Services鈥� journey to the cloud started with its established 51风流footprint in 2012, when the division ran to help meet the needs of its then-20,000 employees in five countries. When 51风流bought SuccessFactors that same year, NTT DATA Services quickly pivoted to implement the new cloud-based software suite for human resources.

Furnish says that her team started with 51风流SuccessFactors Performance & Goals and 51风流SuccessFactors Compensation and later migrated to 51风流SuccessFactors Employee Central. 鈥淲e were able to get our 51风流SuccessFactors Employee Central module implemented globally across five countries in six and a half months,鈥� she said.

In 2016, NTT DATA Services in an acquisition that expanded its offerings to become a comprehensive portfolio of business and IT services. The team at NTT DATA Services was able to get the core functions of 51风流SuccessFactors Employee Central running in six months from the time the deal was signed. 鈥淲e鈥檙e very excited about that,鈥� Furnish said.

Two questions come up whenever Furnish shares the success story of NTT DATA Services鈥� migration to the cloud: How did you do it? How big is your team?

Lots of pre-work and preparation went into the project, according to Furnish, and executive buy-in was an important factor in seeing the project through to completion. With NTT Group leadership on board, the project was set for success. As for the team size, it鈥檚 remarkably similar to the six-person pit crews of IndyCar fame. 鈥淚鈥檓 very honored to manage a large team today, but the ones who manage our global 51风流SuccessFactors configuration and maintenance are six very smart and talented people who are deployed across the globe,鈥� said Furnish.

Lessons from the Speedway

Lessons learned at NTT DATA Services come straight off the speedway. Furnish said, 鈥淭o compete in this culture of speed, there are two things we can learn from the world of motorsports. First: reduce resistance. Second: keep the pedal down.鈥�

One of the biggest barriers to speed in organizations today is outdated legacy software, tools, and technologies, which act as digital drag on efficiency. 鈥淲hile it鈥檚 easier said than done, updating those technologies and systems will unleash a powerful set of capacity and capabilities,鈥� said Furnish, who noted that sometimes the problem is that there can be too much great technology to choose from. She recommended honing in on technologies that offer clear value, allow easy collaboration and quick implementation, and meet the strategic needs of the business.

Talent was identified as an area of investment at NTT DATA Services. 鈥淲e are a professional services company, so people are core to what we do,鈥� Furnish said. By looking at the whole person throughout the employee life cycle, the organization has advanced its people agenda. 鈥淥ur approach is, if we put the right foundation in for our team and people, our team members will be successful. If they are successful, we will then be successful in our business.鈥�

Keeping pace with customer demand and the competition will always be a challenge, but Furnish is optimistic. 鈥淚 think moving to the cloud has kind of leveled the playing field. The companies that are nimble and address updating their technology quicker and faster are the ones that are going to take charge.鈥�

The Checkered Flag

At the closing of her presentation, Furnish waved the metaphorical checkered flag for the takeaway: 鈥淐hange is constant, but what we鈥檙e seeing is coming at us historically faster,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 would encourage all of you to remember the strategic objectives that you are focused on with your team, leverage all of your resources, and ask for help when you can 鈥� because in this environment of speed, it takes your entire team to win the race.鈥�

Thousands of companies have pledged to build more diverse and inclusive workplaces in recent years. However, most have yet to drive the internal alignment and action needed to create measurable change that resonates across various perspectives and experiences.

According to , 75% of targeted employees do not feel the impact of diversity programs, despite approximately 70% of companies in many countries implementing them. And the reason is clear: their focus is too narrow or overly simplistic to genuinely address underlying employee needs and expectations.

Cultivating a Multidimensional Approach

One of the most widespread myths about workplace diversity is that it鈥檚 鈥渢he right thing to do,鈥� even if it limits a company鈥檚 ability to grow. This belief couldn鈥檛 be further from the truth. The relationship between diversity and business growth is not one of oppositional forces.

The more deeply a business values the knowledge and views of underrepresented groups, the stronger its bottom line. A BCG survey of employees in 1,700 companies 鈥� spanning Austria, Brazil, China, France, Germany, India, Switzerland, and the United States 鈥� revealed that more diverse management teams gain from innovation. In addition, three-quarters of those same employees underscored that 鈥渄iversity is gaining momentum at their organization鈥� as their organizations shape business decisions.

play a unique role in helping companies gain the full promise of workplace diversity while eliminating conscious and unconscious biases around age, race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, and personal health in everyday decision-making. For instance, managers can provide equitable and actionable feedback during performance reviews with the help of our writing assistant in the 51风流SuccessFactors Performance & Goals solution. In addition, the calibration tool in the 51风流SuccessFactors Compensation solution helps identify the presence of unconscious bias in employee compensation decisions.

However, some 51风流customers are going further in their efforts to tackle employee diversity and extend value to all people by creating new functionalities for 51风流SuccessFactors solutions through (51风流BTP). By uniting BCG鈥檚 expertise, tools, and services and 厂础笔鈥檚 technology, the platform offers the , , , and countless other applications, tools, and methodologies that 51风流partners need to reimagine each element of an agnostic work experience.

Through their innovation efforts with 51风流BTP and 51风流SuccessFactors solutions, 51风流partners help create an environment where unconscious and conscious discrimination is removed from HR processes, including recruitment, onboarding, performance evaluation, development, compensation and bonuses, and succession. Doing so frees 51风流customers to foster a culture of meritocracy that addresses the entire career and personal journey of each employee with nuanced, holistic solutions.

One prime example is how organizations improve talent acquisition and retention while giving employees agency over their careers. Integrating sentiment data into workforce management analytics helps managers understand underlying causes of departure and discontentment and the emotional and functional needs that matter most to their employees. This analytics capability makes it easier to recognize well-defined cohorts with similar physical and emotional needs by identifying clusters of demographic and attitudinal patterns. As a result, managers can more accurately predict their people鈥檚 challenges and expectations and create supportive communities with unique experiences.

Unlocking Business Value across the Evolving Employee Journey

As businesses seize the moment to fundamentally rewrite the rules of their workplace, the bold intents and aspirations of employee diversity are beginning to take center stage. Organizations that want to unlock what they believe are long-term, sustainable business advantages must also enable each employee to thrive with purpose and meaning.

With 51风流BTP, companies can bring this vision to life by thinking differently when developing new capabilities that enhance 51风流SuccessFactors solutions. They can recognize identity differences that matter to employees, understand broad groups with similar needs and values, and fulfill employees鈥� underlying needs systematically with the right digital and process experiences.

And as more refined, bias-free solutions are adopted, organizations can ensure employees benefit in ways that are meaningful to them within a high-value culture of unity, empowerment, and support.

To learn more about how 51风流partners are helping businesses succeed with a unified technology platform, explore more articles. If you鈥檙e interested in software partnership opportunities with SAP, check out . If you鈥檙e already a partner, check out these exciting initiatives: and .

Jagdish Sahasrabudhe is CTO of the Global Partner Organization at SAP.

鈥�51风流SuccessFactors won eight Top Rated Awards in the Applicant Tracking Systems, Compensation Management, Corporate Learning Management, Employee Performance Management, HR Management, Talent Management, Workforce Analytics, and Workforce Management software categories,鈥� said Megan Headley, VP of Research at TrustRadius. 鈥�51风流SuccessFactors earned these Top Rated Awards based directly on feedback from customers. Reviewers on TrustRadius highlight how the combination of performance management, succession planning, and compliance features simplifies HR and workforce management tasks.鈥�

At SAP, strong customer partnerships and feedback drive our ability to continually innovate and invest in bringing our vision of human experience management (HXM) to life. In the past year, we have released a reimagined home page experience; made new enhancements to , , and ; and launched entirely new solutions like . Together, we are delivering human-centered experiences at work to help our customers build sustainable workforces and profitable businesses.

Here are just some of the reviews from our customers:

• 鈥淕reat and worthy product! We have been using 51风流SuccessFactors solutions for most of the training and company policy-related learning management internally. It gives us an intrinsic user interface (UI) and good usability. Modules and training are placed in a very great UI-built platform, which can be accessed very easily. It also can be integrated with various ERP and CRM systems to give us a holistic view of the training progress of our members.鈥� 鈥�
• 鈥淸51风流SuccessFactors is] our main platform integrated with 51风流to manage all employee goals, objectives, payments, learnings, and more. In the past, we used to have separate applications for each segment and now we just have 51风流SuccessFactors.鈥� 鈥�
• 鈥淪ince it entered our lives, 51风流SuccessFactors has completely transformed how we do performance management. We utilized Excel sheets before our HR department introduced us to 51风流SuccessFactors solutions, which have helped build transparency into our appraisal cycle. Now, we can see how our ratings are, where improvements need to be made, and suggestions from managers regarding which targets were achieved and which ones were not.鈥� 鈥�
• 鈥淓xcellent product for managing payroll and compensations. Running payroll has been a hectic task every month in this part of the world since a lot of taxes and legalities are involved at every state. 51风流SuccessFactors Employee Central and payroll management are great support tools for running operations smoothly and by far no product matches its capabilities.鈥� 鈥�

Read all the reviews on the . To learn more about this recognition, visit the .

Maryann Abbajay is chief revenue officer for 51风流SuccessFactors.

But what about adding a gift that suits the person鈥檚 own interests? Not a gold watch or a wall plaque or tickets to a sporting event, but something they really want — and can choose themselves? That鈥檚 the kind of recognition I would appreciate most. And that is the concept behind a great app from Xoxoday available on 51风流Store.

Here鈥檚 how it works: Xoxoday Plum Rewards and Incentives integrates with 51风流SuccessFactors Compensation for a simple and seamless way for employers to reward their people, empowered by a robust technology platform. The employer issues points through 51风流SuccessFactors Compensation; the employee takes it from there, redeeming the points from a vast catalog that includes not just the usual gift cards, but all manner of experiences. How about a helicopter ride or a desert camping trip or a gourmet meal? The Xoxoday concierge makes reservations and books travel. Or maybe the employee would prefer to put it toward their family鈥檚 everyday expenses or donate it to a worthy cause. More than 21,000 options are offered, covering some 70 countries and 50 languages. The app manages the redemption process and rewards delivery from end to end.

A Rewarding Experience, Whatever the Choice

To learn more, I spoke with the team at Xoxoday: Piyush Agarwal, product vice president; Srivatsan Mohan, engineering vice president; and Shubham Bhatia, product marketing manager.

I was impressed with the enormous range of options and intrigued by the emphasis on experiences, which Agarwal noted is a key differentiator for the Xoxoday Plum app.

One of my first questions was about how the global disruption over recent months has effected the business. 鈥淭here was no dip,鈥� he told me, 鈥渂ecause companies quickly realized the need to support their people suddenly working alone from home. They started offering subscriptions to meditation classes, for example, to encourage employees to care for their physical and mental wellness. On-demand options became popular, and virtual activities for families. This was where Xoxoday could really help them.鈥�

A startup just nine years ago, Xoxoday has found a market niche among enterprises looking for a seamless experience for corporate gifting. Besides Xoxoday Plum Rewards and Incentives, the company also supports other use cases, including gifts for participating in surveys and market research, promotional campaigns, channel incentives, and account-based marketing for accelerating sales.

Mohan explained that the founders, now the chief executives, had extensive experience in the field and strong backgrounds in sales. One had managed the gift card division at Flipkart, a major e-commerce company in Southeast Asia. It was not long before Xoxoday had landed some of the world鈥檚 best-known brands. Xoxoday supports these global enterprises with a team of about 200 employees in India and offices in the U.S., the UK, and Singapore.

Lots of Incentives to Partner with SAP

The connections of the company鈥檚 founders also led them to 51风流about two years ago, Mohan continued. 鈥淲e were looking to acquire more brands and to become a key player in the 51风流ecosystem, since we have so many mutual customers.鈥�

鈥淲e wanted a partner that could help us scale, and 51风流is a perfect match for integrating our product in digital commerce with global reach,” Agarwal added. “And 51风流wanted a partner like us to offer a simple rewards program that works with their customers鈥� HR software. Customers using 51风流SuccessFactors Compensation can go live in less than 30 days. We get great support from the 51风流account execs, and at this point, we have a healthy pipeline for the next year. This collaboration supports our mission to build a technology infrastructure for businesses to simplify and automate global branded currency.鈥�

And here鈥檚 a little gift for you: a free trial of Xoxoxday Plum Rewards and Incentives. Why not give it a whirl with a visit to ?

Rajiv Neema is senior director for 51风流Store partner solutions.