Top performing employees to get 15.3% hikes compared to an average 10%: Aon Hewitt Survey

 

Top performers in 565 companies will take home an average increment of 15.3 per cent this appraisal season, even as pay hikes across these organisations remain a muted 10 per cent, the lowest since FY09, according to Aon Hewitt's Annual Salary Increase Survey. This 'reward gap' between high performers and the rest is the widest since 2011 when Aon Hewitt began capturing such data.

Not only are companies rewarding top performers more disproportionately, they are also tightening the 'bell curve', giving the top rating to fewer employees. If 16.2 per cent of total employees assessed got the top rating pre-2007, only 8.7 per cent made the grade last year.

"The difference between top and average performers has become sharper," says Anandorup Ghose, rewards consulting practice leader at Aon Hewitt India. "As you see smaller (increment) budgets, you'll see those budgets being spent on a critical few rather than many." The ongoing economic slowdown has forced companies to make this definitive change in talent management strategy. PepsiCo India is a good example of this trend. "This year, top performers have got twice as much increase vis-a-vis average performers," said Samik Basu, Chief Human Resources Officer PepsiCo India. "This is particularly important to retain top talent in challenging times."