Ross County manager Malky Mackay is keen to implement a reward strategy for his players in order for the Staggies to fully cash in on their development.
Mackay has made vast changes to the County squad since his arrival at Dingwall last summer, having brought 13 of the current squad to the club.
Of those players, six are on loan until the end of the season.
A number of the permanently signed players, including leading scorer Regan Charles-Cook, midfielder Harry Paton and forward Jordan White, are out of contract in the summer.
Mackay, who brought in former Southampton winger Josh Sims on a two-and-a-half year deal last week, is now starting to plan for a longer-term approach.
The Staggies boss is aiming to provide his players with the incentive of better terms, in order to give the club a better chance of receiving transfer fees further down the line.
Mackay said: “We’re looking at us trying to recruit in a way that has a plan attached for the good of the football club so that you reward the player and give them another contract while they’re under contract.
“We don’t look at it and say ‘we’re lucky we have him on that amount of money’ and leave him there.
“You reward that player with a new contract, more money, lengthen the contract and then there’s a point where that player is ready to go to the next level.
“Everyone wins from it.
“That’s a business plan I’m hoping we can move towards, so there’s good value for the football club, good value for the player, good value for the fans.
“Then there’s also an understanding that I’m not just trying to blow the owner’s money.”
‘We talk every day’
Mackay says chairman Roy MacGregor and chief executive Steven Ferguson have given him the opportunity to bring forward his ideas in shaping the future of the club.
The Staggies boss, whose side is 10th in the Premiership, knows first team results count for the most however.
Mackay added: “The chairman and I talk every day.
“He and Steven know exactly what I’m thinking in terms of planning, advice I’d give in terms of different departments at the football club and how I think things should improve over a period of time.
“I hear their conversations as to where we are as a club, what their strategies are going to be for the longer term.
“I was lucky enough they brought me in to be involved in the senior leadership team at the club to help shape the journey we’re on.
“There’s an honesty, openness and transparency there, but we need to get results – let’s be clear about that.
“Without that, I’ll not be in a job. But they know the reasoning behind what’s happening on the pitch.”
Chairman’s belief in Highland cause shines through
Mackay, who has had previous spells in charge of Watford, Cardiff City and Wigan Athletic, is full of admiration for MacGregor’s leadership of the Dingwall outfit.
He added: “The chairman has been absolutely fantastic – him and Steven Ferguson – from day one.
“More and more in life, it is who you work for, not the badge. The badge can be misleading.
“You see it right through English football – badges with a great history behind them, but you walk into a car crash.
“I’ve had situations with foreign ownership, making decisions from afar and changing football strips.
“I’ve had situations where a club (Watford) was teetering on the brink of administration – good people but no money – and good people facing losing their jobs.
“But the conversation I had that day down at Gleneagles with Roy and Steven absolutely cemented the fact that I was dealing with a man who cares deeply about this club and about the Highlands.
“He has this belief in Highland people, the club’s journey and a cause where he was told you can’t do it up here. You can’t be a big businessman up here, and you can’t have a Premiership football club up here.
“He keeps getting told he can’t do things and the stubborn Highlander says yes, I can and I will, with good people.”
