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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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)