"My company uses an individual incentive system in which nonmanagerial employees can earn substantial bonuses for meeting production goals or sales goals. When I checked the payroll records recently, I realized that several of my employees will be making more this year than I do."

Many managers who supervise production or sales employees make similar observations.

An incentive system that rewards employees for reaching specific goals can result in compensation exceeding that earned by the employees who supervise them. That's actually good news. By not imposing artificial caps on the bonus amounts employees can earn, your organization has demonstrated that it is trustworthy, and will live up to the promises it makes. There's another benefit to this system: Because the organization makes it possible for employees to substantially supplement their income, employees are less likely to be concerned about promotions into higher paying jobs (including yours). But if you are concerned about possible inequities in the incentive system, you might want to make a proposal to take the bonus system organization-wide and apply it to managerial personnel as well. What kinds of measurable outcomes do you affect in your job? These outcomes might form the basis of goals that can be tied to short- or long-term incentives for you and other managerial employees.