Study Shows How Companies Incentize 'Staff" vs. "Line" Employees

More than 4 in 10 companies base incentives on company performance.

(PRWEB) October 12, 2005 -- A new study from Business 21 Publishing Research shows that when it comes to creating line-of-sight criteria for staff positions, almost half of all HR managers throw up their hands and say, “I’m not even going to try!” Seven percent give no bonus at all to staff employees; another 42% simply tie bonuses to overall company performance.

Pay for performance is based on the idea that where a worker can vary output according to effort, the prospect of increased pay will lead to greater performance. In many positions, the line of sight between effort and output is clear. Sales is an obvious example. But companies struggle with incentivizing staff employees, where the line of sight is a notoriously difficult process.

The B21 survey off 137 companies showed that more than half make some kind of effort and tie staff-employee bonus criteria to specific outcomes.

Survey results:

-42% of companies simply tie a year-end bonus to company performance

-27% use a year-end bonus based on tasks completed

-25% use spot bonuses given at the manager’s discretion

-5% offer straight salary with no bonus provision at all.

To read a complete article on the survey, and learn how many companies devise line-of-sight criteria for staff-employee bonuses, go to the B21 HR Intelligence Center http://www.b21pubs.com/hrintellcenter/compensation/comparticles/staff-bonuses-study.asp

For an in-depth discussion of pay for performance, go to http://www.b21pubs.com/hrintellcenter/compensation/comparticles/pay-for-performance.asp

The Business 21 HR Intelligence Center is a vast library containing free articles, Q&As, quizzes, sample policies and other information on 20+ HR-related topics including: FMLA, ADA, FLSA, compensation, benefits, leadership, recruiting, privacy, termination, retention and more. Click her to join for free: http://www.b21pubs.com/members/index.asp

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