Performance Related Pay
Performance-related pay is a financial reward to employees whose work is considered to have reached a required standard, and/or above average.
Performance related pay is generally used where employee performance cannot be appropriately measured in terms of output produced or sales achieved.
Whilst the detail of real performance-related schemes varies from business to business, there are several common features:
∞ Individual performance is reviewed regularly (usually once per year) against agreed objectives or performance standards. This is the performance appraisal
∞ At the end of the appraisal, employees are categorised into performance groups – which determine what the reward will be
∞ The method of reward will vary, but traditionally it involves a cash bonus and/or increase in wage rate or salary
Performance-related pay has grown widely in recent years – particularly in the public sector. This is part of a movement towards rewarding individual performance which reflects individual circumstances.
There are several problems with performance-related pay:
∞ There may be disputes about how performance is measured and whether an employee has done enough to be rewarded
∞ Rewarding employees individually does very little to encourage teamwork
There is doubt about whether performance-related pay actually does anything to motivate employees. This may be because the performance element is usually only a small percentage of total pay.
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