We all wish we were better at communicating. We create presentations (decks) and plan summaries (SPDs). We carefully choose our words and have our colleagues review things before sending them. Our efforts need to be understood by people with wide ranges of experiences, education and levels of interest. But what if our best efforts were making things worse?
Fill in the blank from the selections below:
Today I was _______ for my collaboration in a scheme.
- Incentivized
- Arrested
- Confused
The correct answer, in our industry, is A. In the United States the word “scheme” generally has negative connotation. In Europe it is a common used word to describe an incentive plan. The word plan has less of a link to incentives and more association with architecture or a crime.
In an attempt to be inclusive (“what if the person isn’t an employee?”) many of us prefer to use the word participant instead of employee. We want individuals to know that being a participant in a plan is how we bring them all together. Unfortunately, participant quickly translates to outsider in many countries.
Several years ago I wrote an article that discussed the word “compensation.” The most basic term that describes what we do, what people get and why they should be happy, doesn’t translate well. In our efforts to create a language around our confusing and changing industry we have coined terms, found new uses for old ones and sometimes simply invented words to suit our needs. We may not be helping ourselves with these efforts. Our presentations are cleaner and prettier than ever. You know the rules: 3 bullets or less per slide, less words per bullet is better, cool pictures communicate better than a bunch of words. This doesn’t leave much room to explain complex terms.
You need a glossary. Many of us no longer include glossaries at the beginning of a presentation. But, your glossary shouldn’t be more than five or six words. If you have a laundry list (another mistranslated phrase) of terms you may need to readdress the language. Or, you may need a few smaller glossaries, each beginning the section where those terms are used for the first time.
Think about the short list of words below and how they can be used in other, often unsavory, ways. Then ask yourself if the people who truly need to understand your hard work can possibly be expected to do so.
Tranche
Spread
Exercise
Release
Option
Statutory
Now carefully add your own questionable industry words in the comment section.
Dan Walter, CECP, CEP is the President and CEO of Performensation. He is passionately committed to aligning pay with company strategy and culture. Do you want to know more about, Performance-Based Equity Compensation? Dan also cowrote “Everything You Do in COMPENSATION IS COMMUNICATION”, with Comp Café writers, Ann Bares and Margaret O’Hanlon. And believe it or not, he has co-authored “The Decision Makers Guide to Equity Compensation”and “Equity Alternatives.” Connect with Dan on LinkedIn. Or, follow him on Twitter at @Performensation and @SayOnPay.
Leave a Reply