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Survey indicates most companies will pay bonuses

10 Dec 2013

A survey conducted among South Africa's top corporate employers by executive search firm Jack Hammer Executive Headhunters, has indicated that executives working for some of SA's leading employers can expect a financially more festive season this year, with all companies surveyed confirming that employees will receive some form of performance bonus.

Survey indicates most companies will pay bonuses

Entities polled were from the mining, manufacturing, insurance, consumer finance, investment management and banking sectors.
While it is no real surprise that organisations in the financial services sector have confirmed payouts of 13th cheques, as well as additional performance bonuses in some cases, it is more notable that similar financial supplements and incentives are being paid out in some mining and manufacturing companies.

Achieving targets

Where bonuses are being paid in the manufacturing industry, these are relatively modest, and mostly restricted to 13th cheques only. In some cases, bonuses will not be awarded across the board - certain companies in the sector indicated that bonuses will only be forthcoming in cases where divisions achieved their targets or if operating profit was up from last year.

Debbie Goodman-Bhyat, MD of Jack Hammer, says although many companies are obliged to disburse 13th cheques as part of their contractual agreement with staff, it is heartening to see that more are able to also provide additional incentive and performance bonuses this year.

Low GDP growth

"The economic environment remains tough however, and considering the recent sobering news on relatively low GDP growth, there are no guarantees that these financial sweeteners will be forthcoming in the year ahead," she says. "Companies will continue to play it safe with their eye firmly on the bottom line for the foreseeable future, but there seems to be an interim respite from the extreme belt-tightening that characterised end-of-year financial awards in the years immediately after the global financial crisis."

She says that as staff start seeing a return on their investment at work, staff morale is also likely to receive a welcome boost, which could be good news for productivity. Whether or not this will impact the broader economy remains to be seen; and without improved productivity that translates into meaningful growth, these may be the last bonuses to be seen for a while.