Having wielded the big stick over its employees for a couple of years now, IBM Corp has decided that it might be time for a carrot or two and in the US has established an extensive bonus programme. It has told employees that they will get significant bonuses this year if their business unit reaches its performance goals. The scheme will appeal to high-flyers, because pay increases have been meagre of late, but will do nothing to ease friction within the company caused by the new performance grading system, because although tied to business unit performance, those that sit in grades one and two will get the biggest bonuses.
