Nearly half of all employers with variable pay plans have revised them in the
past year as companies continue to shift from fixed pay to variable pay, according
to a survey by Watson Wyatt, a consulting firm.For a Limited Time receive a
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Get Your Report Now!Of the changes made, the most common was revising the performance measures
on which bonuses are based (68 percent), followed by increasing goals employees
are expected to achieve to earn an award (46 percent). More than one out of
four (27 percent) increased the size of target awards employees receive for
achieving goals.
"Employers are trying to better link variable pay programs with organizational
and individual performance," says Laura Sejen, director of strategic rewards
consulting at Watson Wyatt. "Clearly, employers are raising the bar for
employees. As variable pay becomes more prominent, companies are realizing they
need to carefully distinguish reward allocations to recognize outstanding employee
performance if they are going to attract and retain top talent."
According to the survey, 82 percent of companies now have a variable pay program
for non-executive employees, and 49 percent of organizations have a plan for
all employees. In addition, among respondents planning future changes to their
reward programs, 43 percent plan to put greater emphasis on variable pay.
About half of the employers with long-term incentive programs also made changes
to these plans within the past 12 months. Of those that made changes, 50 percent
did so in anticipation of the new accounting rules surrounding the expensing
of stock options. Among the changes made, the most popular were decreasing eligibility
(46 percent) and changing measures for award determination (35 percent).
A total of 242 organizations participated in the survey.