Companies can't afford to institute every aspect of TQM at once. To do so would require them to explode traditional work systems and rebuild from scratch. That would put some out of business, at least temporarily. The compromise is often a hybrid of the old and new. Sometimes, new systems are put in place before the company makes clear its expectations and rewards.
Teamwork often falls into that category.
Workers say they're not always clear on what work teams are suppose to accomplish and their pay hasn't increased with their work load and responsibility. The Hay Group, a human resources consulting firm in Philadelphia, surveyed 577 large companies this spring and found only 12 percent based part of workers' pay on team accomplishments. Another 39 percent were considering it. Some companies with team structures don't even base part of their pay system on teamwork. Steve Gross, who leads the Hay Group's compensation practice, says companies can only get away with that for a short, honeymoon period .