More than half (55.2 per cent) of all employees in managerial and professional roles took home a bonus last year, new research reveals*. Although the sums involved are typically small, they can provide a much-needed boost to salaries for many employees on lower pay rates.
The XpertHR Managers and Professionals Salary Survey 2018-2019 analysed payroll data for more than 250,000 white collar employees in 443 organisations. While many organisations operate a bonus scheme, their discretionary nature means that not everyone will receive a payment. The average sum paid to the 138,758 individuals in receipt of a bonus was £2,491. Based on their average £29,679 salary, the bonus is worth 8.4 per cent of salary.
For the majority, bonus payments were worth less than £1,000 – 63.7 per cent of payments were recorded at this level. However, more than a quarter (26.8 per cent) were worth between £1,000 and £4,999. Just one per cent of payments were of £25,000 or more.
The level of payments varies greatly by job level, with the average £93,967 for chief executives set at more than 100 times the average £825 for entry level professionals. By job function, the highest average bonus, of £12,159, was paid to sales and marketing positions.
By industry, bonuses were most common for individuals employed in private-sector-services firms (74.3 per cent), followed by those in manufacturing and production (52.7 per cent). Just 19.2 per cent of employees in the charities/not for profit sector received a bonus, and only 6.2 per cent of those in the public sector.
Other variables by which the data was analysed include the following: Gender – the data reveals that 58.2 per cent of men received a bonus, compared with 52.8 per cent of women; Age – the youngest employees in our sample – those aged between 18 and 20 – were most likely to have received a bonus (67.3 per cent), followed by those aged 64 to 66 (60.1 per cent); Organisation size – the likelihood of receiving a bonus increases with the size of organisation in which you work. While 27.2 per cent of individuals in organisations with up to 249 employees received a bonus, this rises to 32.9 per cent of those in organisations with between 250 and 999 employees, and 58 per cent of those in organisations with more than 1,000 people.
Sheila Attwood, XpertHR Managing editor for pay and HR practice, said,
Bonuses continue to be a popular reward tool, enabling organisations to compensate employees for the effort they have put in and to encourage them to go the extra mile in the future. Payments are low for most employees, but can still provide a considerable boost to their basic salary.
*from XpertHR
Interested in staff rewards? We recommend the Reward Strategies to Deliver Business Objectives training day.
Aphrodite is a creative writer and editor specialising in publishing and communications. She is passionate about undertaking projects in diverse sectors. She has written and edited copy for media as varied as social enterprise, art, fashion and education. She is at her most happy owning a project from its very conception, focusing on the client and project research in the first instance, and working closely with CEOs and Directors throughout the consultation process. Much of her work has focused on rebranding; messaging and tone of voice is one of her expertise, as is a distinctively unique writing style in my most of her creative projects. Her work is always driven by the versatility of language to galvanise image and to change perception, as it is by inspiring and being inspired by the wondrous diversity of people with whom paths she crosses cross!
Aphrodite has had a variety of high profile industry clients as a freelancer, and previously worked for a number of years as an Editor and Journalist for Prospects.ac.uk.
Aphrodite is also a professional painter.
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