9
O P I N I O N
2 016 was a good year in the domestic A/E industry. Revenues were generally up, as were profits. The results closely paralleled those of the national economy. The protected class If your firm does not have a well-crafted system for handing out employee bonuses, you run the risk of creating the haves and the have nots.
office manager. The key word here is “subjective.” In most instances, these decisions are made within a very short period of time, sometimes in less than 24 hours, due to the needs of the organization to post and distribute bonus compensation prior to the accounting department’s official year-end closing. The result? Managers lacking a prescribed “Just about every firm has one. But, it’s at the end of year when its significance is most obvious and disconcerting – bonus time.”
Now that the year-end numbers are in, and bonuses have been distributed, I’d like to talk about something often whispered about around water coolers and coffee machines this time of year – “the protected class.” You know what I’m talking about; that project team or group of people within your firm that always seems to have the favor of the boss. It’s okay. Just about every firm has one. But, it’s at the end of year when its significance is most obvious and disconcerting – bonus time. While many organizations today award and distribute bonus compensation according to a prescribed formula, many still leave it to the subjective discretion of the division manager or
Marc Florian
See MARC FLORIAN, page 10
THE ZWEIG LETTER April 10, 2017, ISSUE 1195
Made with FlippingBook Annual report