Too many times I hear Construction Managers say: “But that is base; I don’t care about bonuses, you can’t trust those…A bonus is a bonus…I have been burned before.”
Womp, womp.
I hear this in almost every search I run. Most companies struggle to build a bonus program people actually trust, so of course candidates are skeptical.
If your company has a REAL, CLEAR bonus program, with REAL metrics that are ACHIEVABLE, you have a competitive advantage. You have a recruiting advantage. You have a retention advantage.
The PMs and Supers who are hardest to recruit can get pretty specific. “Yeah, so I make $125,500 base. We have quarterly bonuses based on safety, project profitability, and company performance. Realistically, if everything goes perfectly, that’s about $10K a quarter. Last year my base was $120K, and I W-2’d at just over $150K. This year looks about the same.”
These types are hard to recruit because they know where they’ve been, why they’ve been there, and where they’re going.
But most small to mid-sized firms are “still working on the bonus program,” and falling back on “discretionary” incentives.
My take: if you want people to perform, show them how. When you’re meeting with your next great PM, will they walk out of the interview understanding how they can do far better financially than where they currently are?
Does your company have real, clear bonus metrics, or is it still “discretionary”?
-Jenny