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Little research has explored how best to reduce labor costs when the economy turns down. A recent phone survey of CEOs and senior executives at 20 “Fortune 100” companies suggests that CEOs are now concerned and confused about how best to shrink their workforce. It also indicates that they would rather use layoffs than pay cuts to reduce labor cost. But these senior executives realize they cannot “shrink to greatness.” Eventually these successful companies must again begin to add staff. So planning strategically now for both the growth and shrinkage of the workforce is essential to providing a high‐performance workforce and workplace.

What's the secret sauce of top business performance? Clearly, it's not just having a brilliant business strategy. It's also the successful execution of the strategy that counts. And execution requires that people understand the strategy, know how they fit in, commit to what they must do to add value to the strategy, and have the capability of making the strategy a reality.

Asks whether performance‐related pay can be compatible with TQM and examines the opinions of leading “gurus” on the subject. Looks at examples of good practice in performance management in the United Kingdom and at the practical issues involved for an organization using TQM. Indicates how remuneration can be linked to several aspects of performance, both individual and in groups. Contends that if an organization is willing to invest money in a quality programme then it seems sensible to “link pay to the practices and process associated with organizational success”.

This special issue of Personnel Review on “Quality and the Individual” is very different in style from the editor‐generated issues of this journal, but it has been designed for a very particular purpose. In the rush towards the achievement of high levels of “quality” among organizations, however this is manifested, the effects on the individual have largely gone unnoticed. We are all aware of the high rates of failure among quality management initiatives, and what is becoming clear is that successful organizations are harnessing the talents of individuals, whatever their status, to the quality cause from its very early stages.

Reviews reward management practice in the construction industry, based on a postal survey of larger construction firms. The research results provide little evidence of thorough‐going use of reward management to encourage and reinforce organizational change. Collective agreements survive for manual employees. Non‐manual employees are loosely grouped in broad‐banded grading structures with significant scope for managerial discretion in the treatment of individual salaries. However, there is little evidence of developed performance management systems. The absence of more formalized reward systems may provide a short‐term benefit in allowing considerable flexibility but may have negative implications for long‐term productivity, the control of wage costs and the availability of skills. Given the uneven gender balance, existing pay systems could also give rise to claims for equal pay.