Benefits February 28, 2002

Spot Bonuses Not Dead Yet

February 28, 2002 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - While some other employment benefits may have fallen by the wayside, employers, still eager to show workers they're appreciated, continue to offer spot bonus programs, a new survey found.
Reported by

The survey, by industry group World at Work, found 53% of respondents have a spot bonus plan – up slightly from 50% in July 2000. The group represents compensation and benefits professionals.

The size of the bonuses ranged from between $1,000 and $2,500 for employees and $10,000 or more for executives.

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Companies said they awarded the bonuses to workers who generally undertaken work “above and beyond” their normal job requirements as well as those who had excelled at a particular task.

Bonus Opponents

But support was not unanimous with 34% of respondents say spot bonus programs were generally ineffective. They listed the following reasons:

  • bonus amount was too low,
  • lack of communication to managers about the availability of the bonuses, and
  • lack of support from upper management

The survey covered 332 companies.

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