I am creating a presentation today for a speaking event next month and have been researching the average human attention span.

1. The average human attention span is 8.25 seconds. That is 4.25 seconds less than in 2000. That is less than goldfish at 9 seconds.

2. Attention spans can range from 2 seconds to more than 20 minutes.

3. Younger people usually have longer attention spans than older people. Women usually have longer attention spans than men.

4. Attention span can be improved with mindfulness and mediation.

5. The average audience attention span is 8 – 10 minutes. Keep speeches short and engaging.

So, I am deleting some slides and making sure my images and bullets are simple and short.

This has me thinking about how we design incentives. Too often employers want to have more than three metrics in sales commission or bonus plans.

And don’t get me started on the complexity of long-term incentives. They do not drive behavior in a substantial way. The vesting schedule may help you retain some of your senior leaders. But most of the eligible employees do not connect what they do each day to the share price. And let’s face it. The share price varies based on a variety of factors that are not within the eligible employees’ control.

So, if you are reviewing and redesigning your incentives, keep them simple. The same applies to base pay.

Pay transparency (aka communications and training) is becoming more important. If you want to keep the attention of your audience and impact their thoughts, beliefs, and actions, keep it short and simple.

#compensation #paytransparency #incentives #rewards #hr #humanresources #attentionspan #paytransparency #communications #pay

(Sources: bridgecareaba, thetreetop, elearningindustry, and totalcareaba)