Mercer Survey Finds Top Performers to Get Higher Raises

December 20, 2006 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - A survey of 227 large- and mid-sized employers by Mercer Human Resource Consulting has found that companies plan to pay more to top performing employees in 2007.

The Associated Press reports that e xecutive, management, professional and office workers will get average raises of 3.7% while workers in trades, production and service can expect average raises of 3.6%, according to the survey. However, the amount of increases will be higher in proportion to worker performance ratings.

The Mercer survey showed the top rated 12.8% of workers will get average pay increases of 5.4%, and the next highest 26.1% will get average raises of 4.4%, the AP said. The middle-rated 52.9% will get raises of 3.3%, while the lowest rated 2.9% will average pay increases of 1.4%.

About three-quarters of employers surveyed expect bonus payments for 2007 based on 2006 performance to be equal to or more than those paid in the previous year.

In addition, Mercer found information technology workers have the most potential for rewards as 69% of IT employers surveyed said they offer signing bonuses, 63% said they offer more aggressive pay increases, 85% reported offering project milestone awards, and 84% said they offer spot cash awards.

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