75% employees want bonuses to stay put, survey shows

Many employees stay on with their current firms if the bonuses match their expectations, according to a survey. – The Malaysian Insider file pic, February 22, 2016.

Bonuses are a deciding factor when it comes to staying on in their current company, say 75% Malaysian employees polled by employment agency Jobstreet.com.

The survey, carried out last month among 3,858 employees, also found that 56% expected their year-end bonuses to be higher than the previous year.

“A total of 3, 858 employees who participated in the survey were asked, ‘do bonuses contribute to your retention?’

A significant 75% of them said bonuses play a crucial role towards their retention. 

“They also indicated that their current bonus scheme is one of the primary reasons they would opt to stay put within their companies, and given the chance they would leave for better paying positions,” said JobStreet.com in a statement.

However, just 37% of employers polled believed bonuses were a major factor in employee retention, it said, adding that this showed a gap in perception between the two groups.

When asked why they expected a bonus increase, 57% of employees told JobStreet.com that they believed their work performance had fulfilled their management’s expectations.

Another 35% attributed it to their organisation’s higher business profit, and 8% cited reduced operating costs and overheads compared with the previous year.

Just 18% expected a lesser bonus, with most of them saying their organisations were seeing a decline in business profits compared with last year, while 27% said they expected their bonuses to remain the same.

The survey results also showed that 55% of employees expected a salary increase above 6%. But only 27% of employers said they would be giving an increment equivalent to that.

- TMI