In the current competitive marketplace, as companies pivot to create and implement new pharmaceutical market access strategies and incentive compensation plans, leaders must account for any challenges that may arise in successful implementation. 

Let us face it, it is not easy to design a human-centric plan. But for starters, organizations need to consider a few aspects - from setting up a fair compensation plan that can adapt to dynamic market conditions to supplementing business insights for incentive compensation (IC) stakeholders.

A successful incentive compensation plan is built on seven characteristics - 

• Accuracy
• Timelessness
• Flexibility
• Meaningful insights
• Effective communication
• Reasonable costs
• Innovation

Each element plays a significant role in creating a high-impact plan that aligns with legal compliance and business needs. However, incorporating all these aspects can be challenging at times. For example, striking a balance between quality and costs is a perpetual challenge. Similarly, meeting changing market dynamics without disrupting other business plans and ensuring clear communications with IC leaders requires careful planning and execution.

To build a solid foundation where IC leaders can achieve goals and fulfil these characteristics, they need to work on effective project management and quality planning, adopt new management practices, bring flexibility, identify costs as well and tailor communication as per stakeholders’ needs. Besides these aspects, it is also important to account for volatility and uncertainty.

Establish an Effective Project Plan

The complexities of establishing an effective IC plan revolve around understanding whether the leaders are accounting for the risk involved. How well the teams have planned for mitigating risks, including those related to quality, timeline, delivery, market access, processes, and more. It is also imperative that they ensure data aligns with the updated insights and is reviewed and audited. Leaders and team members should be aware of their KPIs and role in IC planning and management.

Quality Planning

Ensuring all members have the same focused mindset when it comes to achieving quality is imperative for long-term success. As they plan, having clarity in work ownership, including knowing who is responsible for what, accountability, and who is to be consulted and informed, helps reduce the burden on a single stakeholder and ensures a comprehensive quality framework is followed. When thinking of long-term quality, creating a robust, detailed, and well-documented quality control plan helps mitigate risks and establish a sustainable quality process. 

Change Management Framework

While working for long-term success requires future planning, most quality errors arise when leaders do not account for changes in the management framework. Leaders should understand the importance of change, the efforts involved, and the costs associated with meeting said demand. While they are analyzing these choices, are there any alternatives to fulfil stakeholders’ requirements without undergoing an outright change? It is also essential to communicate with the key stakeholders to understand their needs and implement practices. 

IC has been a sensitive topic among pharma companies. For years, designing a fair and responsible incentive compensation plan has been complex. However, with the right tools and the right approach, leaders can implement an effective IC model that successfully delivers business value.