Don't try to keep staff by withholding annual bonuses

According to some recent media reports on annual bonuses, in order to prevent job-hopping, more than 20 percent of enterprises surveyed have decided to pay their employees after the Lunar New Year. Some of them might even delay payment until as late as May.

The news has touched off an enthusiastic public discussion. Was it a last resort of the human resource managers to keep staff or just a technique of stakeholders to bluff their way through? I now feel inspired by the small annual bonus deposited in my account; I believe I should cherish my job more and work harder.

Job-hopping is like divorce. If the employees have made up their mind to say goodbye to the company, then the bonus withheld would not be very helpful. Instead, it might even prompt them to leave because it cannot convince their heart to stay.