Oxymorons are fun. There are the obvious ones – jumbo shrimp, airplane food, military intelligence. And then there are the ones you stumble across. Like “bonus guarantee.”
After the fallout from the recession and the reaction to ridiculous bonuses, not to mention the “soul crushing” structure such programs can take, I see hopeful signs that reliance on cash bonuses as the primary means of recognition reward is diminishing. One such sign was reported by WorldatWork based on data from Mercer:
I’m glad to see that base salaries are rising. That is necessary to counter what the CIPD reported on two years ago:
It’s the comment in the second paragraph of the Mercer results I quote above that really gets to me, though – “bonus guarantees.” I’m also glad to see these continuing to fall, counteracting (I hope) what Bloomberg also reported on:
That’s why I argue so passionately against cash-based bonuses. They quickly become an expectation and an entitlement. Pay employees a fair wage. Recognize them with “After/That” appreciation and rewards, which are a surprise for work well done in alignment with your values and never an expectation. But stop playing around with the oxymoron of “bonus guarantees.”