innovative idea?

How about establishing a cash-only pay program along w. a parallel share ownership guideline?
Inevitably, top executives tend to be the people w. alot of service and many years' worth of equity grants in their portfolios. Given the uncertainty principle, and in the absence of diversification, executives must value each subsequent grant at an ever-heavier discount. So we expense millions of dollars worth of grants, that are instantly devalued in the eyes of the recipients. Why do this? So inefficient!
Usually the reasoning goes that the top executives must signal the market via personal holdings of the company's stock. So this goal may be accomplished via share ownership guidelines!
This has the added benefit of each transaction being done via public market but still must be disclosed as an insider transaction.
Now, what is the first thing that comes to your mind when you see lots of share purchases being done by insider executives? Good value! Must be a good deal if insiders are out there buying shares, right?
Its a win win.

performance measure = pseudo science

There are perfectly obvious things a company can do to use money to manage people. Peer pressure works. Numbers work. Systematic approach works, as with any science. Abandon the knee jerk confidentiallity of the annual review process. Forget about keeping everyone's salary secret. A) it aint a secret. Unless you live under a rock, you know within a few K how much everyone on your floor makes. Don't try to hide salary info, shout it from every corner. Transparency means accountability. If everyone knows how much everyone else makes, free riders can't hide. Discrepancies become glaring. Now you get paid not just how much you think you are worth, but how much everyone thinks you are worth. Your valuable workers know they are valuable. Each of us knows the relative quality of the work we are capable of.