Company Bonuses

Status
Not open for further replies.
The problem with production bonuses is that the owner starts to look at the numbers and sees something different than you.

For example the company my wife works for was giving bonuses for every dollar over "X" made by the employee. Pretty soon some people were making more in bonuses than they were in payroll, so the boss just raised "X", then he raised it again and now people are getting written up because they are not meeting "X" and hardly anyone is getting a bonus.

My point is if you can do a 5 day job in three days to get the bonus then pretty soon your boss is going to figure out, why pay you a bounus when you since he now knows that you can do it and he's going to start expecting it.

My old boss used to take care of me pretty good, put tires on my truck, bought lunch now and then, took my wife and I out to dinner, gave me a paid vacation even when I wasn't expecting it. If he got paid cash, I got paid cash and usually more than my normal pay and he would pay for my hand tools when they wore out, pay me for a full day if we got done early.

I worked 7-4 and all I expected was to get paid for those hours and all he expected was me to work for those hours, but he was a working boss so he was always right there beside me.
 
Speaking as an employee, a bonus is nice ;) of course, but I don't expect, or get one, Except at Christmas.

What I would like more than anything is some feedback from the higher ups! "John, good job!", "John, we need you to do a little better next time", or what have you. We aren't getting much right now, and it is really driving morale down. We had 4 guys leave, one had been with the company for 10 years, and one, my friend Ed, for 12. Money had little to do with it.

We are supposed to have employee reviews every 6 months, and I know it has been over a year for me.

Company outings are nice, and I enjoy them, but if we didn't do anything it wouldn't bother me.

It's NOT all about the money.
 
ITO said:
Yes I am a union contractor. As a business plan, what you just said sounds great, the problem is despite what IBEW says, not all electricians are created equal.
Click to expand...

Even more, there is a wide variety of skill level among all the potential employees that could be hired, and a wide level of skill in specific areas even amongst the best employees.

I don't recall the IBEW ever saying that all their guys are created equal, but they often make you run your business as if it is. Its just one of the things you have to deal with when you have to hire from the hall.

But there is no guarantee that non-IBEW guys are going to be any better. You might get a guy who is a whiz at running pipe and wire, but can't read a control schematic to save his soul (something I run into pretty regularly with both IBEW and non-IBEW guys).

Your best bet is to try and match the task to the employee as best you can, knowing that you won't always be able to put an employee on a task that he is especially efficient at, and that sometimes you will be forced to put someone on a task they are not especially good at.
 
icon4.gif
Guys, take it easy on the Union talk.

This is a relevant conversation whether ITO (or anyone else) was part of a Union or not, and I hope to see it keep going; but it won't if the conversation falls into orbit around the IBEW.

http://www.mikeholt.com/code_forum/showpost.php?p=652352&postcount=33

Thanks,
 
employee ratings

employee ratings

Not that it is tied directly to bonuses, but....

BTW, I am just a hand...

The manpower superintendint for the company I work for had a big secret:

He has been rating everyone, like racehorses so he says.

This system, of which he is secretive, seems to be very fluid and not just an evaluation done once every 6 months by a gf or fm.

He says it helps primarily in culling the herd, obviously.
All along I thought anybody was only as good as their last job, but this guy has eyes and ears out the whole time making numbers like a bookie.


My question is, if you had a sophisticated rating system that was quick and easy to use, would that be good for some kind of bonus down the line?
 
Your kinding right?

Your kinding right?

Editted OP statement ... (shrunk)

stevenj76 said:
Not that it is tied directly to bonuses, but....
The manpower superintendint for the company I work for had a big secret:
He has been rating everyone, like racehorses so he says.
He says it helps primarily in culling the herd, obviously.
My question is, if you had a sophisticated rating system that was quick and easy to use, would that be good for some kind of bonus down the line?
Click to expand...

Two thoughts:
1.) Who's watching the Hen House (he's got that much time in office to run around doing that kinda BS ... )
Sounds like a top heavy company ...

2.) He says it helps primarily in culling the herd, obviously.
More of a rate meter that a bonus meter ... beleive him.
 
I think most really good managers have some kind of rating system for employees (maybe not the official one), and do cull the herd from time to time. Its almost a requirement to be an effective manager, because, even though it is unpleasant to admit, some employees are not worth keeping when all is said and done. About all you can do is give the employee some idea that you are unhappy with their work and see if it improves. If it doesn't, you really have no choice but to cut your losses.
 
Incentive

Incentive

Our company currently provides an incentive bonus for everyone involved in a project. Project managers make the most followed by foreman followed by journeyman followed by apprentices. The company shoots for a percentage of profit on every job. If you make more than that percentage you get a bonus according to how many hours you worked. For example if a job makes 10 % or more the apprentice gets paid $2.00 for every hour worked on that job. The Journeyman and foreman get paid more and Project Manager reaps a percentage of over all profits. Some jobs do not make money therefore no bonus. It gives employees a reason to work hard and also turns everyone into team players. I have not met anyone yet that does not like our current incentive program. The bonuses are paid off twice a year and only a percentage each time. This keeps employees from quiting because they may have $10,000 built up in bonuses over a period of time.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top