“I worked hard this year!  I deserve a bigger bonus!”  I heard this complaint almost annually in 15 years in various sales leadership positions.  Sometimes it was a valid complaint.  Most of the time it wasn’t.

“You receive a salary for effort.  You get a raise or a bonus for results.”

I like people who are competitive and driven to win.  In sales, I looked for those traits in everyone I hired.  Unfortunately, I found that drive to win often gave people an unrealistic perception of what they deserved.

Effort Only

Too many people collecting a salary believe that because they tried, they deserve a raise or a bonus.  The belief seems to be that showing up to work consistently and meeting standards (a.k.a.  minimums) warrants rewards.

Maybe this starts in childhood. I explored this in:  American Idol- Youth Sports and Self-Esteem.  I think receiving a trophy for just showing up as a kid has now affected our adult workforce.

Rewards are not a right.  Most employment contracts promise people salaries.  Salaries are for showing up and trying.  A raise or a bonus is reserved for the people who put the ball in the net.  In other words, raises and bonuses are about results.

It’s About Results

If we want a raise, we should earn it by making our company better.  Did we beat our quota?  Did we save the company money on a project?  Did we develop a process that has changed how we do business?

If we are just plodding along, day in and day out without moving our organization closer to it’s goals, our current salary is our reward for that level of mediocrity.  If the results meet but do not exceed the standards of performance set for us, we should be shocked to get a bonus.

If we expect something beyond our current salary, we need to exceed performance expectations. 

Paying people more and more for achieving the same thing they did last year is a recipe for mediocrity and eventual failure in any business.

Changing Attitudes

Many companies claim to be results oriented, but consistently give raises – beyond cost of living increases – to average performers.  Some deliver bonuses more out of fear of conflict with average performers than for actual results.  This fosters an attitude in an organization very similar to participation trophies for youth sports.

As individuals, we have certain rights guaranteed to us in the Constitution. Raises and bonuses were never written into that document by our Founding Fathers.

If our raise is not what we wished for, or our bonus is less than what we promised our spouse, we need to get busy figuring out what we are going to do this year to insure history does not repeat itself.

The Bottom Line:

“You receive a salary for effort.  You get a raise or a bonus for results.”

If we want more, we need to produce more.  That is our Duty.  The responsibility is on our shoulders.  We must earn our raise.  We must earn our bonus.  If we don’t, we should at least be grateful our company decided to pay our salary one more year and give us the opportunity to improve our results.

Question:

Have you ever heard anyone admit they didn’t deserve a raise or a bonus?

How’s Your Character? Want to find out?

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www.MYCHARACTERTEST.com

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