My peer spilt his personal bonus among his team and now i feel pressured to do so

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Op here. Our VP was in the room when the first leader said he's splitting his. He literally went "I'm cashing this baby today and bringing everyone 1/4th of it tomorrow". Vp didn't say anything other than "congrats to all, you all are hard workers and deserving" etc etc. This isn't a super high amount btw. Leader bonus is under 5k and teammate bonus is under 1k.

Didn't you initially say leader D was a woman, and this was her "fun job"?

Yes I changed the genders a few times to try and remain anonymous but then forgot which one I used. We are all women except for leader B (guy in the elevator)

Just stick to the facts and then you don’t have to keep your lies straight. You’re losing credibility fast

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is so unethical. Take out the bonus aspect of it, and it would never fly for a supervisor to give her direct reports a personal gift of $1k plus. Waaay too many liability issues. Take it to HR.

This. If iwas the vp I’d have a serious issue with this as it’s alresdu causing morale problems and the new person rocking the boat. There needs to be company policy on gifts to employees from supervisors and vice versa. What if it was a tam member that got a large bonus and decided to give half to his superior so if his spouse makes a high salary? That would be awkward and not ok come review time.

[Anonymous]

Sure you feel pressured but what your peer did is her/his prerogative and it's not like this person has stated that all personal bonuses in the future will be redistributed as well. I thought this country prides itself on individualism and free entreprise, no? Why should your team members hold it against you for not sharing your own bonus when they have already received theirs? All the more they should be motivated to want to be the next team leader who is as good as you are.

[Anonymous]

I want an update on this! OP!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is so unethical. Take out the bonus aspect of it, and it would never fly for a supervisor to give her direct reports a personal gift of $1k plus. Waaay too many liability issues. Take it to HR.

I'm a HR exec for a Fortune 500. Agree with this, it sets up terrible further expectations and pressure on other leaders (not just in this set of teams, but potentially across the organization.) I wouldn't allow this in my company and I'd think the first leader is shortsighted and frankly I'd be questioning her judgement. Perhaps she is a junior leader that hasn't worked with a bonus before? Depending on the size of your organisation, she may not have the authority to offer to share her bonus.

Talk with your manager and HR and agree on a consistent way forward. Usually there are internal guidelines for bonus payments which would limit how they are paid. In this case, I'd probably play the bad guy and position the message to say that whilst a generous offer, the company won't allow it because of financial and tax reasons. This should take the pressure off managers and ensure future clarity on bonus expectations.

[Anonymous]

Life isn't fair and your team needs to accept it. No way I'd be splitting my bonus....sorry but not sorry.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:An alternative for that team leader would have been to just gift money to her team members for Christmas instead of announcing it to everyone.

+1

It was really unprofessional of her to make that announcement in front of all of the teams.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We had a department wide meeting where it was announced Teams A, B, and D made their goal. The team leader gets XYZ bonus and each team member gets ABC bonus. These amounts are fixed and we all know the dollar number attached to these incentives. I am the leader of team A. The leader of Team D publicly announced he is splitting his personal bonus among the team to sweeten everyones package. The leader of Team B and myself left the meeting kind of annoyed because now we feel in the hot seat. We both talked in the elevator and both mentioned we needed/wanted our bonuses for Christmas and won't be following Team D leaders idea. Well the next day I learn leader B did indeed split his bonus. He did "count himself in" so it was slightly lower extra amount than team D but still doubles the members bonuses. I now HAVE to do this right? Ive been a team leader for 8 years and gotten the bonus 6 of them and no one has ever done this before this year. Leader D is a new employee and has a high earning spouse and this is her "fun" job and I just dont think take home makes a huge difference to her. Leader B confided in me he felt like he had to follow the office trend or else his team members would try and switch teams in 2018 when a new project permitted. I agree with that sentiment but still feel resentful. Ugh. I know what I have to do but it just kinda stings.

This is so incredibly sexist that I don't think any advice to you would help you with your team or your peers.

The only reason you think it’s sexist is because she mentioned the sex of the other team leader. Do you just sit around all day looking to be offended? What about the pronouns used?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is so unethical. Take out the bonus aspect of it, and it would never fly for a supervisor to give her direct reports a personal gift of $1k plus. Waaay too many liability issues. Take it to HR.

I'm a HR exec for a Fortune 500. Agree with this, it sets up terrible further expectations and pressure on other leaders (not just in this set of teams, but potentially across the organization.) I wouldn't allow this in my company and I'd think the first leader is shortsighted and frankly I'd be questioning her judgement. Perhaps she is a junior leader that hasn't worked with a bonus before? Depending on the size of your organisation, she may not have the authority to offer to share her bonus.

Talk with your manager and HR and agree on a consistent way forward. Usually there are internal guidelines for bonus payments which would limit how they are paid. In this case, I'd probably play the bad guy and position the message to say that whilst a generous offer, the company won't allow it because of financial and tax reasons. This should take the pressure off managers and ensure future clarity on bonus expectations.

There is nothing unethical about it. Perhaps foolish or short sighted, but that's a different conversation.

Also, there are no tax consequences. The amounts are well within legal tax-free gift amounts. And any argument that this is a financial issue is hollow as well because the money is being shared after the company has paid it.

Does it suck for everybody else? Of course. You might have an argument that it would be considered an improper gift and that the subordinates cannot accept a gift that valuable in connection with their employment.

Given your weak arguments, should you really be in a position to question someone else's judgment?

[Anonymous]

How much of your success comes from the work your team does?

Are they the worker bees and you benefit or are you actually working 5 times harder than they are and 5x more responsible for the success of your team?

[Anonymous]

Op here. I have re read the comments and decided to give an update. One thing I want to state is this is a sales driven job. We are given territory's and for the rest of the year we really just compete with ourselves. During the last half of the last quarter we are divided into teams and have certain goals that we can achieve together as we each turn in our own numbers in various categories. My Vp was not thrilled with the way one leader publicly stated her bonus intentions but decided to let it go on. He said next year he will make it so that is not an option. (not sure how that will go down) HR has no issue if VP gives ok. I decided to give visa giftcards for 250 each. If I would have split the leader bonus with them it would be 375 each, if I would have given it all to them a little more. I feel like this was a fair compromise. I mentioned that the leader has a high household income because I felt like she was basically paying to get the best players on her team. We all have some say in who goes on who's team (although some of it is regional and fixed but there is wiggle room within regions) and I felt like this was her way of making sure next October the strong sales team becomes hers. I decided to let it go and not ruin my Christmas. This isn't a huge money making job BTW (we all earn about 200-300k) so that extra money is nice but its also not worth becoming the most hated woman in the office for.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Op here. I have re read the comments and decided to give an update. One thing I want to state is this is a sales driven job. We are given territory's and for the rest of the year we really just compete with ourselves. During the last half of the last quarter we are divided into teams and have certain goals that we can achieve together as we each turn in our own numbers in various categories. My Vp was not thrilled with the way one leader publicly stated her bonus intentions but decided to let it go on. He said next year he will make it so that is not an option. (not sure how that will go down) HR has no issue if VP gives ok. I decided to give visa giftcards for 250 each. If I would have split the leader bonus with them it would be 375 each, if I would have given it all to them a little more. I feel like this was a fair compromise. I mentioned that the leader has a high household income because I felt like she was basically paying to get the best players on her team. We all have some say in who goes on who's team (although some of it is regional and fixed but there is wiggle room within regions) and I felt like this was her way of making sure next October the strong sales team becomes hers. I decided to let it go and not ruin my Christmas. This isn't a huge money making job BTW (we all earn about 200-300k) so that extra money is nice but its also not worth becoming the most hated woman in the office for.

lolsob

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Op here. I have re read the comments and decided to give an update. One thing I want to state is this is a sales driven job. We are given territory's and for the rest of the year we really just compete with ourselves. During the last half of the last quarter we are divided into teams and have certain goals that we can achieve together as we each turn in our own numbers in various categories. My Vp was not thrilled with the way one leader publicly stated her bonus intentions but decided to let it go on. He said next year he will make it so that is not an option. (not sure how that will go down) HR has no issue if VP gives ok. I decided to give visa giftcards for 250 each. If I would have split the leader bonus with them it would be 375 each, if I would have given it all to them a little more. I feel like this was a fair compromise. I mentioned that the leader has a high household income because I felt like she was basically paying to get the best players on her team. We all have some say in who goes on who's team (although some of it is regional and fixed but there is wiggle room within regions) and I felt like this was her way of making sure next October the strong sales team becomes hers. I decided to let it go and not ruin my Christmas. This isn't a huge money making job BTW (we all earn about 200-300k) so that extra money is nice but its also not worth becoming the most hated woman in the office for.

Wait what??? You make $300K and your bonus split among your staff is $325???

Yea. Trollllll

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Op here. I have re read the comments and decided to give an update. One thing I want to state is this is a sales driven job. We are given territory's and for the rest of the year we really just compete with ourselves. During the last half of the last quarter we are divided into teams and have certain goals that we can achieve together as we each turn in our own numbers in various categories. My Vp was not thrilled with the way one leader publicly stated her bonus intentions but decided to let it go on. He said next year he will make it so that is not an option. (not sure how that will go down) HR has no issue if VP gives ok. I decided to give visa giftcards for 250 each. If I would have split the leader bonus with them it would be 375 each, if I would have given it all to them a little more. I feel like this was a fair compromise. I mentioned that the leader has a high household income because I felt like she was basically paying to get the best players on her team. We all have some say in who goes on who's team (although some of it is regional and fixed but there is wiggle room within regions) and I felt like this was her way of making sure next October the strong sales team becomes hers. I decided to let it go and not ruin my Christmas. This isn't a huge money making job BTW (we all earn about 200-300k) so that extra money is nice but its also not worth becoming the most hated woman in the office for.

Sorry. I was mostly on your side until now. The bonus is a drop in the bucket, and I'll bet the non-sales team members who had to help draft the technical sections on non-billable time got squat to boot.

[Anonymous]

Oh yeah, 200k-300k isn't a huge money making job. Peanuts.