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Time of India
4 days ago
- Business
- Time of India
IPL shows why pay equity drives performance: On the field and in the workplace, ETHRWorld
Highlights Salary disparities impact team performance in IPL and corporate settings. Balanced payroll strategies lead to improved team dynamics and results. Over-relying on superstars can harm overall team cohesion and success. Advt Advt By & , ETHRWorld Join the community of 2M+ industry professionals Subscribe to our newsletter to get latest insights & analysis. Download ETHRWorld App Get Realtime updates Save your favourite articles Scan to download App What does the Indian Premier League IPL ), the glitzy, high-octane T20 cricket tournament, have in common with your workplace ? According to our analysis of IPL teams and the unfolding drama of IPL 2025, quite a research conducted with other colleagues has been recently published in the IIMB Management Review. The study investigates whether unequal pay structures of IPL players impact team performance s. Based on statistical analysis of data from 11 IPL seasons (2008-2019), we find that teams with greater internal pay disparities tend to underperform. These results find support from the equity theory in organizational psychology, which argues that employees are more productive and collaborative when they perceive pay distribution to be fair. Our study highlights how lopsided compensation can erode team harmony, foster resentment, and ultimately reduce team ongoing IPL 2025 season is serving as a live demonstration, illustrating our academic research in terms of on-field years of lacklustre performance and management reshuffles, the Punjab Kings (PBKS) took a strategic turn this season. While they acquired star Indian batter Shreyas Iyer for Rs 26.75 crore, one of the highest salaries in this year's auctions, the franchise ensured that salary levels across the rest of the squad remained relatively balanced. Instead of overloading on a few marquee names, they focused on building depth and role clarity within the result? PBKS soared into the top two on the league table, showcasing some of their most all-round performances in recent memory. Their team dynamics, bench strength, and mutual trust were clearly visible in their disciplined run chases and spirited fielding efforts. The franchise's resurgence has been widely attributed to its stable leadership, equitable recognition, and enhanced team Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), one of the IPL's most high-profile teams, has traditionally pursued a star-centric strategy, investing heavily in players like Virat Kohli, Chris Gayle, and AB de Villiers. However, 2025 saw a philosophical shift in their approach. Instead of splurging on a handful of superstars, RCB opted for a smarter auction strategy, retaining core performers while distributing resources fairly to acquire impactful domestic and international strategic pivot seems to have paid off handsomely. RCB too cruised into the finals with commanding performances throughout the tournament, demonstrating that balanced pay and role-based inclusivity can elevate team performance. HR leaders can draw parallels: when high-performing employees operate in a culture that values everyone's contribution, and not just the loudest voices or flashiest résumés, the entire organisation lifts itself up.A striking illustration of our research comes from the other side of the spectrum - the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG). The team broke the bank to bring in Rishabh Pant for a record Rs 27 crore. While Pant delivered a few thrilling knocks and even registered a century, the team failed to qualify for the playoffs. The gap between Pant's compensation and that of other players might have been a factor that affected morale and team reinforces a crucial insight for HR professionals: over-investment in a single superstar, without aligning rewards with broader team contributions, can lead to disengagement and disunity. While individual brilliance is valuable, it seldom compensates for poor collaboration or fragmented team research explains: 'Large pay disparities, especially in team-based environments, often trigger perceptions of unfairness, dampen morale, and reduce collaboration — all of which impact performance.' In other words, what holds true for IPL franchises might hold true for corporate organisations as aligns with long-standing research in human resource management and behavioural economics. Numerous studies show that employees are more committed, engaged, and innovative when they feel their work is valued fairly. not just in words, but in compensation and equity theory, originally proposed by psychologist J Stacy Adams in the 1960s, argues that motivation is driven by a sense of fairness in social exchanges, and the IPL offers a modern, high-stakes validation of this 2025 IPL season delivers several key lessons for people managers and business leaders –: Over-relying on a few high-paid individuals while under-valuing the rest of the team often backfires. Long-term success is built on depth, not just headlines.: Compensation structures should reflect not just past performance, but also role significance and future potential. Clear and equitable pay policies promote trust and engagement.: Whether it's a cricket franchise or a corporate project team, outcomes improve when individuals work toward shared goals, respect each other's roles, and feel equally important to the businesses grapple with rising wage expectations, retention challenges, and employee wellbeing in a hybrid work world, the IPL provides an unexpected yet vivid playbook. Fair pay, inclusive recognition, and strong team bonds drive performance, not just in stadiums, but in boardrooms the end, the message is simple but powerful: in both cricket and corporate life, it's not just about the MVP (Most Valuable Player), it's about building a team where every player feels valued like one.
Mint
13-05-2025
- Business
- Mint
Instead of setting SMART goals, why not make a PACT?
If you are a professional, it's likely that you have recently completed a goal-setting exercise as part of your annual performance appraisal. Irrespective of the template followed for this activity by the HR department of your organisation, the fundamental principle behind such an exercise is similar for most enterprises: to help employees become more productive, accountable, and focused on meeting their targets in the new financial year. One of the most common tools used in the corporate world to keep professionals on track is a goal-setting framework that goes by the acronym S.M.A.R.T. Management consultant George T. Doran first mentioned it in an article for Management Review in 1981. According to this model, the most effective goals are Specific, Measurable, Achievable (originally Doran used Assignable), Realistic and Time-bound. 'I will run three times per week for 30 minutes each session to prepare for a 5K race in 8 weeks" is an example of a S.M.A.R.T goal. A tried and tested tool for close to half a century, S.M.A.R.T goals not only strongly correlate with the outcomes desired of an individual, but also leave no room for ambiguity. Even to carry out daily tasks, it can prove beneficial, both for managers and their reportees. Instead of going down the slippery slope of vague promises, such as, 'I'll send over the presentation by E.O.D.," an individual working within the S.M.A.R.T framework will have to make a more precise commitment, such as, 'I will send over the presentation by 5pm." There is, however, a flip side to this model. S.M.A.R.T goals tend to be overly focused on outcomes and the metrics attached to them. With no wiggle room for recalibration, these goals either leave you feeling triumphant or like a loser. Especially if the goal in question is personal, such as reaching a certain designation in a specific period of time, this framework may lead to burnout if not met. Also read: When serendipity helps build a strong career Further, the continuous pressure of being always on track may lead to toxic work habits—such as pulling off the proverbial 70-hour-week, either in all honesty or to keep up the appearances. Come rain, shine, war or economic meltdown, S.M.A.R.T goals keep you on your toes, not accounting for the Volatile, Uncertain, Complex and Ambiguous (VUCA) world we live and work in. Let's make a PACT The S.M.A.R.T framework may have worked for Boomers, Gen X and older millennials when the world of work was relatively insulated from the shocks and tremors of global upheavals in tech, AI and financial meltdowns. But for Gen Zs and Gen Alphas joining, or about to join, the workforce, the current reality calls for a different approach to productivity. In her recent book Tiny Experiments: How to Live Freely in a Goal-Obsessed World, former Google executive, neuroscientist, and founder of the mindful productivity platform Ness Labs Anne-Laure Le Cunff proposes an alternative to the S.M.A.R.T model—an approach that takes into account all the ups and downs we face in our VUCA world. Instead of being tied to outcome-oriented linear goals, this French Algerian writer suggests that we shift towards setting non-linear goals and make a P.A.C.T. that is focused on the process and the output. Her acronym—Purposeful, Actionable, Continuous and Trackable—is an antidote to empirical metrics of productivity. For example, 'I'll learn coding in the next six months" may be a worthwhile goal, but for it to work as a P.A.C.T., it will have to be re-framed as something along the lines of, 'I will code every day for one hour for the next six months." Building motivation in individuals to achieve their goals almost always involves a carrot or stick approach. A pact, in contrast, offers a reprieve from the push and pull method. It relies on the momentum of the process to build skill and confidence through repeated action. Le Cunff calls these exercises to reframe our working style 'tiny experiments." Mindful productivity While it is difficult to imagine tiny experiments working at an organisational level, Le Cunff's ideas can prove transformative for personal productivity. And so, going beyond the theories of the fixed and growth mindsets proposed by psychologist Carol Dweck in her 2006 book, Mindset: The New Psychology of Success, she proposes a third model: the experimental mindset. To explain what such a mindset may look like in practice, she invokes the concept of 'metacognition," or heightened self-awareness achieved through repeatedly questioning the triggers behind our actions. If you are a serial procrastinator, for instance, your experimental mindset can help you see what's stopping you from getting on with your tasks. Is it your rational brain that sees no value in the work itself? Do your emotions feel that there are better things awaiting your attention? Or, perhaps, there are practical impediments for you to do the task? Also read: The secret of success? Energy management Based on your answers, Le Cunff suggests a 'persist, pause and pivot" model to get out of the rut. Her provocations may or may not work every time for everyone, but at least such tiny experiments—and there are several more in her book—will put you in touch with some of the default blockages in your mind. Work Vibes is a fortnightly column on ideas to help you thrive at what you do.
