BT is introducing a smart bonus benefit to senior employees that will enable them to gamble up to 50% of their remuneration package and possibly gain the same amount in the form of a cash bonus.
The benefit is being rolled out as a pilot to 400 top-level employees in the UK in the BT Design and BT Global Services businesses.
Employees can elect to risk a minimum of 10% and a maximum of 50% of their basic pay, which comprises a combination of base salary, holiday and, or employer pension contributions.
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Employees who meet their targets will get the amount they risked back, and if they exceed their target they can get, on a sliding scale, up to 200% of that amount as an additional bonus. If they fail to meet their targets, they forgo the proportion of salary they gambled. Existing bonuses set against a different set of objectives will not be affected.
Martin Thomas, head of recruitment at BT, said: “The smart bonus is being offered only to the top two or three professional levels within those organisations and primarily to roles in the professional services rather than functional-type roles.”
The pilot will run to April next year, at which point it will be reviewed with a view to further roll-out.
The risk and reward strategy is unlikely to be offered to all BT employees, but could be offered to other senior staff.