????2011年的獎金是不是少的可憐？提前做好思想準備吧，因為今年的情況同樣不容樂觀。全球薪酬咨詢巨頭韜睿惠悅咨詢公司（Towers Watson）進行的一項雇主調查顯示，和上一年一樣，大公司將不會全額發放原定的獎金。

????當然，這一方面是由于依舊低迷的經濟狀況。由于獎金方案與公司的總體利潤率直接掛鉤，因此，只要公司收入不增加，就不要指望獎金會上漲。但除此之外，還有其他的原因：許多大公司提高了獲取獎金的資格限制，更多公司計劃在2013年推行這一措施。對于那些已經感覺工作過度卻報酬過低的員工們來說，這絕對是令人沮喪的消息。

????比如：過去12個月中，韜睿惠悅調查的美國公司中，超過三分之一（34%）提高了針對機構財務績效的獎金目標，24%提高了針對個人績效的獎金目標。明年，這個趨勢將愈演愈烈。約40%的公司計劃提高公司績效目標，另有30%計劃提高對員工的要求。

????過去四年，員工被要求少領錢，多做事。韜睿惠悅調查的美國員工中，竟然有76%的人聲稱，自己工作中承受的壓力水平已經激增至新的、不健康的高度。

????此外，韜?；輴偂?012年全球員工調查”（2012 Global Workforce Study）還發現，越來越大的壓力與少得可憐的獎金（甚至根本沒有獎金），使越來越多的人開始懷疑成就與薪酬之間的關系。大多數員工不再相信，取得更好的成就會獲得相應回報。接受調查的3,600名美國員工中，僅有36%認為績效與薪酬（包括獎金等獎勵工資）之間存在明確的聯系。37%的人認為兩者之間根本沒有任何關系，不足一半（42%）的受訪者認為，所在公司的優秀員工得到了相應的回報。

????韜睿惠悅獎酬咨詢全球業務負責人勞拉·塞伊恩指出，雖然目前就業市場疲軟，但“與2002年至2007年的經濟擴張期相比，大多數公司依然很難吸引、留住具備關鍵技能的員工?！彼a充說，要想留住這些關鍵員工，或者從其他地方吸引優秀人才，雇主“必須嚴肅對待公司對員工的要求和給予員工的回報不一致的問題?！?/p>

????一個建議是：徹底取消年終獎金制度。至少，薪酬專家奧布里·丹尼爾斯便這么認為。他的奧布里·丹尼爾斯國際公司（Aubrey Daniels International）曾為藍十字與藍盾協會（Blue Cross Blue Shield）、美國國家航空航天局（NASA）、西屋電氣公司（Westinghouse）等公司設計獎勵工資制度。丹尼爾斯曾寫過非常有趣的一本書《浪費時間與金錢的13種管理實踐》（Oops! 13 Management Practices That Waste Time & Money），他認為，年底簽發獎金支票是錯誤的做法。

????丹尼爾斯認為：“即便年終獎金與個人績效掛鉤，但由于他們與員工應該獲得獎勵的行為時間上相隔太遠，因此也就失去了獎勵的效果?！毕喾矗ㄗh更頻繁地發放額度更小的獎金。比如在他自己的公司，他便制定了月度評估與獎勵機制。

????If your bonus in 2011 seemed skimpy, get ready for a rerun. For the second year in a row, big companies aren't paying out 100% of their targeted bonus pools, according to a survey of employers by global compensation consulting giant Towers Watson.

????That's partly on account of the still-sluggish economy, of course. For bonus plans that are pegged to a company's overall profitability, payouts won't go up until earnings do. But something else is going on as well: Plenty of big employers have raised the bar for bonus eligibility, and many more plan to do so in 2013. For workers who already feel overworked and underpaid, that's discouraging news.

????Consider: Over the past 12 months, more than a third (34%) of U.S. companies Towers Watson polled set higher bonus targets for organizational financial performance, and 24% increased their targets for individual performance. The trend will pick up steam in the coming year. About 40% plan to raise company performance goals, and 30% will demand more of employees.

????Asked to do more with less for the past four years, a whopping 76% of U.S. employees Towers Watson surveyed said stress levels where they work have soared to new and unhealthy heights.

????Moreover, notes the?Towers Watson 2012 Global Workforce Study, the combination of more pressure and ho-hum bonuses (or none at all) is making people increasingly cynical about the connection between achievement and pay. Most workers don't believe that producing better results will be rewarded. Only 36% of the 3,600 U.S. employees in the study see a clear link between performance and pay, including incentive pay like bonuses. A slightly larger percentage (37%) see no link at all, and fewer than half (42%) think top performers in their companies are compensated accordingly.

????Laura Sejen, global practice leader for rewards at Towers Watson, notes that despite the currently soft labor market, "most organizations are having as much trouble attracting and retaining critical-skill employees as they did during the economic expansion of 2002 to 2007." To keep those key employees and attract top talent from elsewhere, she adds, employers "have to get serious about the incongruence between what the company is asking" and how it rewards its employees.

????One way to do that: Cut out annual bonuses altogether. At least, that's the view of compensation expert Aubrey Daniels, whose firm Aubrey Daniels International has designed incentive pay plans for Blue Cross Blue Shield, NASA, Westinghouse, and many others. The author of an intriguing book,?Oops! 13 Management Practices That Waste Time & Money, Daniels believes handing out one bonus check at the end of the year is a mistake.

????"Even when they're tied to individual performance, end-of-year bonuses can be ineffective because they're too far removed from the behavior they're rewarding," Daniels says. Instead, he recommends paying out smaller, more frequent bonuses -- as he does at his own company, where he set up a monthly system of evaluation and rewards.