MOVE FROM ENTITLEMENT TO PARTNERSHIP
Raising your score will help reduce entitlement, improve engagement, build unity, sharpen focus and strengthen partnership.
0–30 points
Your plan may be doing more harm than good. It relies too much on discretion and case-by-case decisions. BonusRight recommends that you allow about 20% discretion in your plan—but no more. The employees who are receiving awards probably don’t know why. Oops! That’s an entitlement enabler. It’s time to plan ahead, add some structured goals and make firmer commitments to your employees.
31–54 points
You’re probably pretty frustrated with your plan—and your employees are too. It’s time to improve the budgeting process so that you can feel confident about expanding your financial commitment. You need funding goals that are realistic and challenging. We’re guessing that you don’t communicate your plan to your employees early and often. Thus, organizational alignment is lacking. Step up for your team and they’ll step up for you.
55–76 points
Congratulations, you’ve built a technically strong plan based on best-practice standards. You’re budget-conscious and focused on careful selection of KPIs. Employees seem tuned in to the results needed to drive their bonuses, as well as what their award opportunity is. You may be using departmental goals to increase line of sight, as well as employee performance measures to individualize payments. You’re following the systems employed by many of North America’s most successful companies.
77–96 points
You’re treating your employees like partners in the business. Your plan is not over-engineered. It relies heavily on company-wide profitability and success. Everybody understands it (high clarity). They believe the plan goals are achievable (high believability). And they respect and value the potential payouts (significant meaning). When asked, “Do you feel like partners in this business?” your employees nod their heads firmly. Your bonus plan reflects your deep commitment to share with employee-partners the value they help create.