Most Prevalent Incentive Payments? Survey Says …

Long term incentive bonuses were most frequently reported to be paid to employees at the executive level (28% of respondents) and all exempt level sales employees (26% of respondents).

The survey, conducted during the month of March, 2011, garnered 621 responses, primarily representing companies with fewer than 500 employees, but relatively evenly distributed over the regions of the US.

Data was gathered for five levels of employee responsibility in ten departments. See the charts below for detailed break-outs for:

• Executives
• Middle Management
• Professional
• Exempt Staff
• Non-Exempt Employees

Executives

	Administrative		Sales		Accounting
	Number	Pct	Number	Pct	Number	Pct
Base salary/hourly pay	517		134		311
Commission	27	5%	55	41%	5	2%
Short term incentive cash bonus	137	26%	50	37%	88	28%
Long term incentive cash bonus	137	26%	52	39%	83	27%
Other cash bonuses (individual or team awards, spot bonuses, etc.)	139	27%	32	24%	73	23%
Stock Options	89	17%	41	31%	56	18%
Profit Sharing	142	27%	40	30%	67	22%
Auto allowance	207	40%	61	46%	52	17%
Compensation protection (Golden Parachute)	42	8%	6	4%	20	6%
Sign-on bonus	77	15%	28	21%	33	11%

	Customer Service		Human Resources		Information Technology
	240		117		181
	Number	Pct	Number	Pct	Number	Pct
Base salary/hourly pay	120		238		192
Commission	3	3%	2	1%	4	2%
Short term incentive cash bonus	40	33%	74	31%	60	31%
Long term incentive cash bonus	26	22%	66	28%	46	24%
Other cash bonuses (individual or team awards, spot bonuses, etc.)	27	23%	54	23%	49	26%
Stock Options	21	18%	39	16%	29	15%
Profit Sharing	25	21%	45	19%	38	20%
Auto allowance	21	18%	34	14%	32	17%
Compensation protection (Golden Parachute)	5	4%	12	5%	10	5%
Sign-on bonus	17	14%	24	10%	21	11%

	Legal Department		Manufacturing		Marketing
	380		409		257
	Number	Pct	Number	Pct	Number	Pct
Base salary/hourly pay	99		53		154
Commission	0	0%	1	2%	10	6%
Short term incentive cash bonus	38	38%	24	45%	55	36%
Long term incentive cash bonus	27	27%	23	43%	51	33%
Other cash bonuses (individual or team awards, spot bonuses, etc.)	26	26%	16	30%	40	26%
Stock Options	25	25%	18	34%	35	23%
Profit Sharing	13	13%	11	21%	35	23%
Auto allowance	30	30%	23	43%	30	19%
Compensation protection (Golden Parachute)	8	8%	3	6%	10	6%
Sign-on bonus	17	17%	16	30%	25	16%

	Purchasing				Total/Average		Total Excluding Sales
	308				368		79
	Number	Pct
Base salary/hourly pay	75				962		828
Commission	2	3%			109	11%	54	7%
Short term incentive cash bonus	23	31%			589	61%	539	65%
Long term incentive cash bonus	16	21%			527	55%	475	57%
Other cash bonuses (individual or team awards, spot bonuses, etc.)	19	25%			475	49%	443	54%
Stock Options	8	11%			361	38%	320	39%
Profit Sharing	8	11%			424	44%	384	46%
Auto allowance	17	23%			507	53%	446	54%
Compensation protection (Golden Parachute)	1	1%			117	12%	111	13%
Sign-on bonus	10	13%			268	28%	240	29%

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Middle Management

	Administrative		Sales		Accounting
	Number	Pct	Number	Pct	Number	Pct
Base salary/hourly pay	504		156		334
Commission	29	6%	88	56%	1	0%
Short term incentive cash bonus	150	30%	65	42%	88	26%
Long term incentive cash bonus	83	16%	45	29%	45	13%
Other cash bonuses (individual or team awards, spot bonuses, etc.)	179	36%	62	40%	94	28%
Stock Options	43	9%	22	14%	27	8%
Profit Sharing	116	23%	37	24%	62	19%
Auto allowance	66	13%	52	33%	13	4%
Compensation protection (Golden Parachute)	5	1%	1	1%	2	1%
Sign-on bonus	61	12%	27	17%	31	9%

	Customer Service		Human Resources		Information Technology
	203		96		145
	Number	Pct	Number	Pct	Number	Pct
Base salary/hourly pay	195		286		250
Commission	15	8%	3	1%	3	1%
Short term incentive cash bonus	62	32%	82	29%	75	30%
Long term incentive cash bonus	24	12%	38	13%	38	15%
Other cash bonuses (individual or team awards, spot bonuses, etc.)	60	31%	85	30%	84	34%
Stock Options	16	8%	23	8%	16	6%
Profit Sharing	39	20%	50	17%	40	16%
Auto allowance	9	5%	12	4%	8	3%
Compensation protection (Golden Parachute)	1	1%	1	0%	2	1%
Sign-on bonus	16	8%	25	9%	21	8%

	Legal Department		Manufacturing		Marketing
	354		360		223
	Number	Pct	Number	Pct	Number	Pct
Base salary/hourly pay	71		95		190
Commission	0	0%	0	0%	8	4%
Short term incentive cash bonus	28	39%	31	33%	65	34%
Long term incentive cash bonus	10	14%	16	17%	33	17%
Other cash bonuses (individual or team awards, spot bonuses, etc.)	24	34%	31	33%	61	32%
Stock Options	11	15%	7	7%	14	7%
Profit Sharing	10	14%	23	24%	40	21%
Auto allowance	6	8%	5	5%	12	6%
Compensation protection (Golden Parachute)	0	0%	0	0%	0	0%
Sign-on bonus	13	18%	8	8%	16	8%

	Purchasing				Total/Average
	254				338
	Number	Pct
Base salary/hourly pay	142				994
Commission	1	1%			148	15%
Short term incentive cash bonus	44	31%			690	69%
Long term incentive cash bonus	19	13%			351	35%
Other cash bonuses (individual or team awards, spot bonuses, etc.)	41	29%			721	73%
Stock Options	11	8%			190	19%
Profit Sharing	21	15%			438	44%
Auto allowance	7	5%			190	19%
Compensation protection (Golden Parachute)	0	0%			12	1%
Sign-on bonus	13	9%			231	23%

Professional

	Administrative		Sales		Accounting
	Number	Pct	Number	Pct	Number	Pct
Base salary/hourly pay	484		138		312
Commission	54	11%	101	73%	1	0%
Short term incentive cash bonus	118	24%	58	42%	66	21%
Long term incentive cash bonus	55	11%	28	20%	24	8%
Other cash bonuses (individual or team awards, spot bonuses, etc.)	163	34%	57	41%	87	28%
Stock Options	27	6%	16	12%	16	5%
Profit Sharing	104	21%	35	25%	52	17%
Auto allowance	40	8%	49	36%	7	2%
Compensation protection (Golden Parachute)	5	1%	0	0%	2	1%
Sign-on bonus	62	13%	22	16%	25	8%

	Customer Service		Human Resources		Information Technology
	223		113		148
	Number	Pct	Number	Pct	Number	Pct
Base salary/hourly pay	141		235		242
Commission	5	4%	0	0%	3	1%
Short term incentive cash bonus	41	29%	55	23%	61	25%
Long term incentive cash bonus	10	7%	20	9%	26	11%
Other cash bonuses (individual or team awards, spot bonuses, etc.)	47	33%	67	29%	75	31%
Stock Options	8	6%	12	5%	11	5%
Profit Sharing	25	18%	36	15%	43	18%
Auto allowance	3	2%	5	2%	8	3%
Compensation protection (Golden Parachute)	1	1%	1	0%	1	0%
Sign-on bonus	10	7%	14	6%	17	7%

	Legal Department		Manufacturing		Marketing
	365		378		224
	Number	Pct	Number	Pct	Number	Pct
Base salary/hourly pay	77		54		163
Commission	1	1%	0	0%	9	6%
Short term incentive cash bonus	23	30%	17	31%	46	28%
Long term incentive cash bonus	7	9%	7	13%	16	10%
Other cash bonuses (individual or team awards, spot bonuses, etc.)	26	34%	20	37%	48	29%
Stock Options	5	6%	3	6%	8	5%
Profit Sharing	10	13%	13	24%	31	19%
Auto allowance	5	6%	1	2%	6	4%
Compensation protection (Golden Parachute)	0	0%	0	0%	0	0%
Sign-on bonus	10	13%	7	13%	12	7%

	Purchasing				Total/Average
	267				346
	Number	Pct
Base salary/hourly pay	118				934
Commission	0	0%			174	19%
Short term incentive cash bonus	29	25%			514	55%
Long term incentive cash bonus	7	6%			200	21%
Other cash bonuses (individual or team awards, spot bonuses, etc.)	35	30%			625	67%
Stock Options	6	5%			112	12%
Profit Sharing	13	11%			362	39%
Auto allowance	1	1%			125	13%
Compensation protection (Golden Parachute)	0	0%			10	1%
Sign-on bonus	12	10%			191	20%

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Exempt Staff

	Administrative		Sales		Accounting
	Number	Pct	Number	Pct	Number	Pct
Base salary/hourly pay	528		162		348
Commission	43	8%	104	64%	1	0%
Short term incentive cash bonus	119	23%	61	38%	62	18%
Long term incentive cash bonus	54	10%	31	19%	28	8%
Other cash bonuses (individual or team awards, spot bonuses, etc.)	189	36%	64	40%	99	28%
Stock Options	22	4%	13	8%	16	5%
Profit Sharing	110	21%	40	25%	64	18%
Auto allowance	21	4%	54	33%	4	1%
Compensation protection (Golden Parachute)	2	0%	0	0%	1	0%
Sign-on bonus	34	6%	13	8%	16	5%

	Customer Service		Human Resources		Information Technology
	197		111		141
	Number	Pct	Number	Pct	Number	Pct
Base salary/hourly pay	225		259		249
Commission	15	7%	0	0%	1	0%
Short term incentive cash bonus	57	25%	49	19%	54	22%
Long term incentive cash bonus	19	8%	20	8%	15	6%
Other cash bonuses (individual or team awards, spot bonuses, etc.)	75	33%	78	30%	82	33%
Stock Options	11	5%	13	5%	9	4%
Profit Sharing	43	19%	47	18%	39	16%
Auto allowance	3	1%	1	0%	3	1%
Compensation protection (Golden Parachute)	1	0%	0	0%	1	0%
Sign-on bonus	8	4%	12	5%	12	5%

	Legal Department		Manufacturing		Marketing
	361		373		215
	Number	Pct	Number	Pct	Number	Pct
Base salary/hourly pay	68		77		196
Commission	0	0%	0	0%	7	4%
Short term incentive cash bonus	17	25%	17	22%	44	22%
Long term incentive cash bonus	4	6%	11	14%	15	8%
Other cash bonuses (individual or team awards, spot bonuses, etc.)	23	34%	26	34%	66	34%
Stock Options	1	1%	4	5%	8	4%
Profit Sharing	10	15%	20	26%	40	20%
Auto allowance	3	4%	2	3%	7	4%
Compensation protection (Golden Parachute)	0	0%	0	0%	0	0%
Sign-on bonus	7	10%	6	8%	10	5%

	Purchasing				Total/Average
	257				332
	Number	Pct
Base salary/hourly pay	153				1038
Commission	0	0%			171	16%
Short term incentive cash bonus	29	19%			509	49%
Long term incentive cash bonus	8	5%			205	20%
Other cash bonuses (individual or team awards, spot bonuses, etc.)	52	34%			754	73%
Stock Options	6	4%			103	10%
Profit Sharing	22	14%			435	42%
Auto allowance	0	0%			98	9%
Compensation protection (Golden Parachute)	0	0%			5	0%
Sign-on bonus	7	5%			125	12%

Non-Exempt Employees

	Administrative		Sales		Accounting
	Number	Pct	Number	Pct	Number	Pct
Base salary/hourly pay	565		98		361
Commission	30	5%	39	40%	2	1%
Short term incentive cash bonus	118	21%	29	30%	54	15%
Long term incentive cash bonus	39	7%	9	9%	21	6%
Other cash bonuses (individual or team awards, spot bonuses, etc.)	217	38%	53	54%	107	30%
Stock Options	20	4%	6	6%	9	2%
Profit Sharing	109	19%	28	29%	66	18%
Auto allowance	10	2%	4	4%	2	1%
Compensation protection (Golden Parachute)	2	0%	0	0%	2	1%
Sign-on bonus	12	2%	4	4%	3	1%

	Customer Service		Human Resources		Information Technology
	195		104		157
	Number	Pct	Number	Pct	Number	Pct
Base salary/hourly pay	306		235		224
Commission	24	8%	0	0%	2	1%
Short term incentive cash bonus	66	22%	40	17%	39	17%
Long term incentive cash bonus	20	7%	12	5%	18	8%
Other cash bonuses (individual or team awards, spot bonuses, etc.)	119	39%	82	35%	68	30%
Stock Options	10	3%	9	4%	5	2%
Profit Sharing	59	19%	46	20%	39	17%
Auto allowance	3	1%	0	0%	2	1%
Compensation protection (Golden Parachute)	1	0%	1	0%	1	0%
Sign-on bonus	3	1%	3	1%	3	1%

	Legal Department		Manufacturing		Marketing
	363		361		234
	Number	Pct	Number	Pct	Number	Pct
Base salary/hourly pay	66		123		158
Commission	0	0%	1	1%	3	2%
Short term incentive cash bonus	19	29%	28	23%	31	20%
Long term incentive cash bonus	3	5%	6	5%	8	5%
Other cash bonuses (individual or team awards, spot bonuses, etc.)	27	41%	46	37%	53	34%
Stock Options	1	2%	6	5%	6	4%
Profit Sharing	8	12%	29	24%	36	23%
Auto allowance	3	5%	1	1%	2	1%
Compensation protection (Golden Parachute)	0	0%	0	0%	0	0%
Sign-on bonus	0	0%	1	1%	4	3%

	Purchasing				Total/Average
	252				343
	Number	Pct
Base salary/hourly pay	182				1024
Commission	0	0%			101	10%
Short term incentive cash bonus	33	18%			457	45%
Long term incentive cash bonus	7	4%			143	14%
Other cash bonuses (individual or team awards, spot bonuses, etc.)	58	32%			830	81%
Stock Options	5	3%			77	8%
Profit Sharing	35	19%			455	44%
Auto allowance	1	1%			28	3%
Compensation protection (Golden Parachute)	0	0%			7	1%
Sign-on bonus	4	2%			37	4%

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