Generativity, Intimacy, Incentives, Disincentives

It is that time of the year when the 'adrenaline pumping','overflowing with energy' Sales Conferences happen.

The entire sales heirarchy meets to discuss the year gone by and the year ahead, and have a lot of fun and frolic. There is a lot of hullah, noise, games, partying and by the time the 3 days draw to a close everyone is invariably overcharged with energy and a firm belief that at the least 'We can conquer the world against all odds!'

I have been a part of one such conference over the last 3 days. When I look around I realize that the median age of the 300 plus people in this room is in all probability lower than the median age of Indian population (approx. 25 years). That makes this group a very young one. I also am reminded of the sales incentive scheme which supposedly drive 'sales growth' further.

I have a few questions/thoughts on my mind:
1)What purpose would a conference like this serve if the average/median age of the sales force were to be much higher? Do such conferences happen in many of the Western countries where average/median age of the population would be closer to 40 years? These conferences might still be aimed to act as 'energizers' but the form and shape of them might vary. Our current conference design is aimed towards the Intimacy vs Isolation dilemma (encountered by people in 20s age group) which Erik Erikkson talks about. A space is created where participants start relating to, and drawing energy from, the larger group they belong to. Future conference designs (as the population ages) might require us to address the Generativity vs Stagnation dilemma(encountered by people in 30s and 40s age group) that Eric Erikkson talks about. Or maybe conference may not be the ideal format to address the Generarivity vs Stagnation dilemma.

2)In an economy where the market is not growing (think of the developed countries with stagnant or degrowing GDPs), why would a sales incentive scheme be required? No growth, no incentive! But then how would a company buffer itself against unsatisfactory performance? It might still have an incentive scheme but of a form where a person gets a certain amount of money if he/business unit/company meets its business targets but gets a reduced/no amount in case of underperformance. This might then be called a Sales Disincentive scheme. This reminds me of a Sales Disincentive scheme a friend was working on. What was the context for this need? I must check up with him.

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Sourav
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