Your bonus is not your career strategy: how top Financial Services think long-term
Bonus season can stir all sorts of emotions for Financial Services professionals. It’s useful to unpack these feelings in a way that equips you for the future of your career. It’s all too easy to read false conclusions or assumptions into the numbers — and that thinking can lead you astray. The most important takeaway is that successful professionals don’t confuse this year’s rewards with long-term career prospects.
Reading the message
It’s not always easy to interpret what your bonus number is really telling you. After all, you may have been fortunate to be on a team or in a department that performed exceptionally well, resulting in a strong bonus. Equally, the opposite may be true: you may have performed strongly in an underperforming team or a weak area of the market, and been underpaid.
Sometimes, your employer may be signalling that they value you and want to retain you — or perhaps not. All things being equal, your bonus is simply a reflection of the value you added to the business in the past.
The danger of the message
A good bonus can tempt professionals to stay in a role even when they feel increasingly stuck, limiting their long-term career options.
A new title is valuable, especially if it comes with genuine decision-making responsibilities. However, also consider whether you’re being valued primarily for firm-specific expertise — skills that may not be easily recognised or monetised elsewhere in the future. It’s always important to bear future employability in mind.
Thinking differently
Bonuses can be reframed as just one data point, not a definitive measure of your career worth. What matters now is:
Being in a firm or platform where you can perform at the highest level
Compounding your skills and experience to increase your market value in the long-term
Building relationships and networks to maintain career agility and create future opportunities
A moment of self-audit and reflection
Bonus season — and end-of-year appraisals — is a perfect time to perform a career check-in. Consider reflecting on:
Skills and experiences that will keep you in demand in the long term
Ways to increase your value-add impact for your current employer
How to market yourself appropriately, internally and externally, by deepening relationships and building alliances within your professional network
Closing thoughts
Your bonus, whether good or bad, is just one point of reference. It’s not the foundation on which to build a wider career strategy.
Thinking long-term and focusing on your ability to add value, maintain visibility, and preserve career optionality will prove far more beneficial in the long run. If you’re starting to think about those big career questions - and a potential job search - let’s talk. Click on this link to book a free, no-strings-attached call at a time that suits, to see if you’d benefit from us working together to craft a strategic career plan.