Company performance overtakes individual performance in bonus decisions

For people managers, the report found that 50% are offered performance bonuses. They are also granted project completion bonuses (42%), holiday (39%), referral (37%), profit-sharing (36%), retention (34%), and then sign-on bonuses (28%).

According to the report, the variations in bonuses offered reflect how employers align rewards with responsibility, tenure, and impact on overall business performance.

“Executives are more closely tied to profit-sharing because their influence sits at the enterprise level, whereas performance-based bonuses dominate at earlier career stages where contribution is measured more individually,” Gorton said.