4 ms·

Bonus schemes can be extremely effective for retention. Partition comp so that enough turns up monthly that people don't struggle and add a significant bonus ev

Bonus schemes can be extremely effective for retention. Partition comp so that enough turns up monthly that people don't struggle and add a significant bonus every N months and there is never a 'good' time for your employees to leave. Best I know of was every three months as that's roughly the latency to change jobs - after a bad day in the office, the next reward is still close enough to distract from the alternatives.

bombcar 4y ago
This is what most bonuses are, salary that can be "clawed back" if you will.
- nopenopenopeno 4y ago
  Bonuses that can be clawed back will never keep me around. I do generally appreciate my bosses, but I know better than to assume my hard work will be recognized. I work hard because I like being valuable. I stick around for a reliable income. Also, I generally have low opinions of coworkers who do anything else. Those desperate for recognition usually sacrifice something else in the process.
zeroonetwothree 4y ago
So now you've created a situation in which your employees resent having to stay longer than they want. Is that really ideal?
- nlitened 4y ago
  > Is that really ideal? I don't think "ideal" is possible, but if you have to choose whether valuable employees in average stay longer than they'd want or leave earlier than they'd want—longer is better for the business.
  - earnesti 4y ago
    Often it is not really well known if how valuable the employees are,
growse 4y ago
Ah yes, "retention". Or: "we know how bad this place is to work, so we have to backload your pay to convince you to stick around once you work that out too".
silisili 4y ago
You're absolutely right. Last company had a sizeable bonus, and while I wanted to quit years prior, 'bonus' and 'yearly 401k match' were always just around the corner. During my most recent company's negotiation, I was honest I wasn't going to do that again for that reason. Ended up negotiating from a 70/30ish split to a 90/10ish.
peteradio 4y ago
Might work, but I've used an upcoming bonus to secure a higher signing bonus.
thaumasiotes 4y ago
> Partition comp so that enough turns up monthly that people don't struggle and add a significant bonus every N months and there is never a 'good' time for your employees to leave. Right after the bonus is paid.

bombcar 4y ago

This is what most bonuses are, salary that can be "clawed back" if you will.

nopenopenopeno 4y ago
Bonuses that can be clawed back will never keep me around. I do generally appreciate my bosses, but I know better than to assume my hard work will be recognized. I work hard because I like being valuable. I stick around for a reliable income. Also, I generally have low opinions of coworkers who do anything else. Those desperate for recognition usually sacrifice something else in the process.

zeroonetwothree 4y ago

So now you've created a situation in which your employees resent having to stay longer than they want. Is that really ideal?

nlitened 4y ago
> Is that really ideal? I don't think "ideal" is possible, but if you have to choose whether valuable employees in average stay longer than they'd want or leave earlier than they'd want—longer is better for the business.
- earnesti 4y ago
  Often it is not really well known if how valuable the employees are,

growse 4y ago

Ah yes, "retention". Or: "we know how bad this place is to work, so we have to backload your pay to convince you to stick around once you work that out too".

silisili 4y ago

You're absolutely right. Last company had a sizeable bonus, and while I wanted to quit years prior, 'bonus' and 'yearly 401k match' were always just around the corner. During my most recent company's negotiation, I was honest I wasn't going to do that again for that reason. Ended up negotiating from a 70/30ish split to a 90/10ish.

peteradio 4y ago

Might work, but I've used an upcoming bonus to secure a higher signing bonus.

thaumasiotes 4y ago

> Partition comp so that enough turns up monthly that people don't struggle and add a significant bonus every N months and there is never a 'good' time for your employees to leave. Right after the bonus is paid.