2011年的奖金是不是少的可怜？提前做好思想准备吧，因为今年的情况同样不容乐观。全球薪酬咨询巨头韬睿惠悦咨询公司（Towers Watson）进行的一项雇主调查显示，和上一年一样，大公司将不会全额发放原定的奖金。

    当然，这一方面是由于依旧低迷的经济状况。由于奖金方案与公司的总体利润率直接挂钩，因此，只要公司收入不增加，就不要指望奖金会上涨。但除此之外，还有其他的原因：许多大公司提高了获取奖金的资格限制，更多公司计划在2013年推行这一措施。对于那些已经感觉工作过度却报酬过低的员工们来说，这绝对是令人沮丧的消息。

    比如：过去12个月中，韬睿惠悦调查的美国公司中，超过三分之一（34%）提高了针对机构财务绩效的奖金目标，24%提高了针对个人绩效的奖金目标。明年，这个趋势将愈演愈烈。约40%的公司计划提高公司绩效目标，另有30%计划提高对员工的要求。

    过去四年，员工被要求少领钱，多做事。韬睿惠悦调查的美国员工中，竟然有76%的人声称，自己工作中承受的压力水平已经激增至新的、不健康的高度。

    此外，韬睿惠悦“2012年全球员工调查”（2012 Global Workforce Study）还发现，越来越大的压力与少得可怜的奖金（甚至根本没有奖金），使越来越多的人开始怀疑成就与薪酬之间的关系。大多数员工不再相信，取得更好的成就会获得相应回报。接受调查的3,600名美国员工中，仅有36%认为绩效与薪酬（包括奖金等奖励工资）之间存在明确的联系。37%的人认为两者之间根本没有任何关系，不足一半（42%）的受访者认为，所在公司的优秀员工得到了相应的回报。

    韬睿惠悦奖酬咨询全球业务负责人劳拉·塞伊恩指出，虽然目前就业市场疲软，但“与2002年至2007年的经济扩张期相比，大多数公司依然很难吸引、留住具备关键技能的员工。”她补充说，要想留住这些关键员工，或者从其他地方吸引优秀人才，雇主“必须严肃对待公司对员工的要求和给予员工的回报不一致的问题。”

    一个建议是：彻底取消年终奖金制度。至少，薪酬专家奥布里·丹尼尔斯便这么认为。他的奥布里·丹尼尔斯国际公司（Aubrey Daniels International）曾为蓝十字与蓝盾协会（Blue Cross Blue Shield）、美国国家航空航天局（NASA）、西屋电气公司（Westinghouse）等公司设计奖励工资制度。丹尼尔斯曾写过非常有趣的一本书《浪费时间与金钱的13种管理实践》（Oops! 13 Management Practices That Waste Time & Money），他认为，年底签发奖金支票是错误的做法。

    丹尼尔斯认为：“即便年终奖金与个人绩效挂钩，但由于他们与员工应该获得奖励的行为时间上相隔太远，因此也就失去了奖励的效果。”相反，他建议更频繁地发放额度更小的奖金。比如在他自己的公司，他便制定了月度评估与奖励机制。

    If your bonus in 2011 seemed skimpy, get ready for a rerun. For the second year in a row, big companies aren't paying out 100% of their targeted bonus pools, according to a survey of employers by global compensation consulting giant Towers Watson.

    That's partly on account of the still-sluggish economy, of course. For bonus plans that are pegged to a company's overall profitability, payouts won't go up until earnings do. But something else is going on as well: Plenty of big employers have raised the bar for bonus eligibility, and many more plan to do so in 2013. For workers who already feel overworked and underpaid, that's discouraging news.

    Consider: Over the past 12 months, more than a third (34%) of U.S. companies Towers Watson polled set higher bonus targets for organizational financial performance, and 24% increased their targets for individual performance. The trend will pick up steam in the coming year. About 40% plan to raise company performance goals, and 30% will demand more of employees.

    Asked to do more with less for the past four years, a whopping 76% of U.S. employees Towers Watson surveyed said stress levels where they work have soared to new and unhealthy heights.

    Moreover, notes the Towers Watson 2012 Global Workforce Study, the combination of more pressure and ho-hum bonuses (or none at all) is making people increasingly cynical about the connection between achievement and pay. Most workers don't believe that producing better results will be rewarded. Only 36% of the 3,600 U.S. employees in the study see a clear link between performance and pay, including incentive pay like bonuses. A slightly larger percentage (37%) see no link at all, and fewer than half (42%) think top performers in their companies are compensated accordingly.

    Laura Sejen, global practice leader for rewards at Towers Watson, notes that despite the currently soft labor market, "most organizations are having as much trouble attracting and retaining critical-skill employees as they did during the economic expansion of 2002 to 2007." To keep those key employees and attract top talent from elsewhere, she adds, employers "have to get serious about the incongruence between what the company is asking" and how it rewards its employees.

    One way to do that: Cut out annual bonuses altogether. At least, that's the view of compensation expert Aubrey Daniels, whose firm Aubrey Daniels International has designed incentive pay plans for Blue Cross Blue Shield, NASA, Westinghouse, and many others. The author of an intriguing book, Oops! 13 Management Practices That Waste Time & Money, Daniels believes handing out one bonus check at the end of the year is a mistake.

    "Even when they're tied to individual performance, end-of-year bonuses can be ineffective because they're too far removed from the behavior they're rewarding," Daniels says. Instead, he recommends paying out smaller, more frequent bonuses -- as he does at his own company, where he set up a monthly system of evaluation and rewards.

    与韬睿惠悦的调查相呼应，丹尼尔斯也认为，公司管理者应该想办法改进自己的工作，确保员工“能够明确绩效与奖励之间的直接关系。应该向员工解释清楚获得奖金应该达到的具体目标，以及公司会如何确定额外薪酬的金额等。”

    他补充道，如果你的目标是留住明星员工，“用奖金来表达善意不会有任何效果。让员工感受到每天都被善待，自己的出色表现也获得了褒奖，这比每年领一张奖金支票更能培养员工的忠诚度。”正如笔者认识的一位壳牌石油（Shell Oil）高管所说：“赶着去参加派对，却在路上挨了一顿揍，谁还会有心情去庆祝呢？”

    译者：刘进龙/汪皓

    Echoing Towers Watson's research, Daniels says that managers need to start doing a better job of making sure employees "can draw a direct line between performance and reward. Explain exactly what people have to do to earn a bonus, and how the available amount of extra compensation is determined."

    If your goal is to keep your stars from quitting, he adds, "Using bonuses to create good will won't work. Being treated well every day and being praised for excellent performance is far more likely to foster loyalty than getting a check once a year. As a Shell Oil executive I once knew put it, 'It's hard to celebrate when you've been beaten up on the way to the party.'"