Awards and motivationU.S. Today, companies are facing stronger pressure than ever to improve cost efficiency and at the same time bring their products to market faster, more cost-effectively and with greater innovation and regulatory compliance, responding to ever-increasing regulations around the world which are often in conflict with each other. A company must also be agile enough to change direction quickly and cost-effectively when market conditions change. At the same time, they still need to provide an environment where people want to work and excel. This is where old reward management models fail and new approaches to rewards need to be implemented to make an organization more efficient and productive. (Chang) The company referred to in this article is the author's current employer, Walgreens Corporation. In today's business environment, attracting, retaining and motivating the kind of people who can support a rapidly growing organization requires that most companies think differently about how they compensate their employees and that's true at Walgreens . The thought process to reflect this change involves moving from compensation to rewards or merging both. Speaking with an HR representative within the department, it was made clear that company goals are focused on results and that the weight of reward programs has increased to compensate. Walgreens considers base pay to be the price paid for membership in the company. Base pay guarantees the company that the employee will show up for work, that they can call them at night or on weekends with job questions, that they can send employees out of town and disrupt their personal lives. But incentives or rewards are the price you pay for keeping employees focused on what's important to the company. For example, several years ago, at the store business level, for the positions of managers and store owners at all levels there was a flat rate in relation to the annual bonuses awarded. For example, two hundred and seven hundred dollars were issued for these positions on a monthly basis, respectively. However, instead of helping productivity, it had little effect and essentially did nothing to improve the company's bottom line because managers assumed that this allocated amount was just another structured payment (like base pay) and put it. .. paper ......across the company but especially in cities where new districts are being built, such as North Carolina, South California and Atlanta, Georgia. HR created a rewards program to create the motivation to make the connection between the goal and the effort needed to achieve it. For every referral that leads to a new hire an employee receives one thousand dollars and if they recruit from newly developed cities they get double points, which would double the payout (from $1,000 to $2,000). This approach has helped relieve the company's recruiting pressure. The general theory of the process is consistent with Walgreens Corporation having established itself as leading the curve in innovation and human capital. References Meyer, John P., Becker, Thomas E., Vandenberghe, Christian. Employee commitment and motivation: A conceptual analysis and integrative model. Journal of Applied Psychology; December 2004, vol. 89 Issue 6, p991, 17pChang, Julia. Where everyone is a winner. Sales and marketing management; January 2005, vol. 157 Issue 1, p43, 4p, 8cMilkovich-Newman. Salary: salary model. McGraw-Hill. Boston, 2004.