Bonus Structures in Surveying: Building Fair, Motivating Incentives
Bonuses in surveying are complex and in my experience can often create more issues than they solve. Firms use bonuses as a way to motivate teams, reward performance, and retain top talent.
In this blog, we’re discuss why bonuses are important, and explore the different types of bonuses and the advantages and drawbacks of them.
Why Bonuses Matter in Surveying
Bonuses, when used correctly can help improve motivation, strengthen productivity and improve results across an organisation. Bonuses also show employees that their hard work is noticed and valued. This recognition boosts morale, encourages loyalty, and helps create a positive work culture.
However bonuses can sometimes have the opposite effect, when employees receive lower bonuses than expected this can lead to lack of motivation and there are plenty of examples of where this had lead to employees leaving jobs.
The importance of having a well-structured bonus scheme can make a huge difference in either retaining or losing employees.
Types of Bonus Structures
Surveying firms can mix and match approaches depending on goals:
- Performance (fee based) Bonuses – Linked to measurable outcomes like exceeding fee targets, completing key projects or high customer satisfaction scores
- Discretionary Bonuses – Awarded based on a discretionary basis, typically taking into account the wider performance of the whole business, team and then individual employee.
- Profit-Sharing – Distributes part of company profits, aligning employees with overall business success.
Our recent Salary Survey report showed that 52% of employees surveyed received no bonus, with 40% receiving a discretionary bonus and 8% received a non-discrentionary performance related bonus.
The average bonus payment made was around 7% of salary.
Levels of Incentives: Individual, Team, and Company
The structure you choose depends on what you want to encourage:
- Individual Bonuses
- Great for rewarding personal performance, higher achievers often thrive in this environment
- But can risk competition over collaboration, fee grabbing.
- Team Bonuses
- Ideal for teams working together on a collective project/outcome
- Builds shared responsibility, though weaker performers may benefit from others’ effort.
- Company-Wide Bonuses
- Promotes unity and loyalty when the business thrives.
- Works best if employees clearly see how their work contributes to that success.
Designing a Fair and Effective System
A good bonus plan for surveying should be:
- Clear – Surveyors should know exactly how performance is measured.
- Balanced – Combine individual, team, and company incentives for fairness.
- Transparent – Communicate how bonuses are calculated.
- Flexible – Revisit and refine as projects, markets, or company goals evolve.
Final Thought
There isn’t a one-size fits all approach to bonuses, various factors including company size, type of work, company culture, business goals, market conditions all play a part. Also the level of seniority of employees can also affect what bonuses are offered, with bonuses typically being offered to more senior experienced staff.
Transparency around bonuses is the most important factor in my opinion, and the main thing that leads to issues with employee dissatisfaction. I appreciate this isn’t always easy, particularly in larger firms but where possible the more transparency you have the less surprises there will be. It’s about showing fairness, building trust, and making bonuses a real motivator instead of a potential source of conflict.
If you’re evaluating your companies bonus structure and looking for some advice please contact me on 07568 490452.
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