# ADP Research argues trust can motivate workers when bonuses fall short [Canonical reading](https://escapemeridian.com/readings/adp-research-argues-trust-can-motivate-workers-when-bonuses-3f02234e) ADP Research’s article, published December 16, 2025, argues that trust can motivate workers when bonus pay is less available, and that incentive pay does not always inspire loyalty or commitment. The article describes the principal-agent problem: principals want work done but may lack the ability or time to do it themselves, while agents may not do the work as the principal wants. Bonuses can help align those interests, but ADP Research reports that the share of U.S. workers receiving a bonus fell from a peak in 2021 to 39.7 percent in 2024. Its analysis of anonymized payroll records also found that in December 2024, pay growth for job-stayers outpaced bonus-pay growth. Drawing on its Employee Motivation and Commitment Index, ADP Research identifies trust in a company’s future, management, teams and recognition of workers’ contributions as important to loyalty and productivity. The article argues that feeling supported and seeing contributions recognized can align workers’ efforts with employers’ aims in a way money cannot buy. It also says that during the Great Resignation, people quit in record numbers despite record pay incentives. The article does not establish how much trust, or any particular workplace practice, affects retention or productivity; its findings describe trends and survey responses, not a tested guarantee of outcomes. Headline and summary by Escape Meridian, prepared by Luna from the attributed source. A source check is not independent confirmation of the source’s claims. ## Original source ADP Research · Article Original source date: Dec 16, 2025 (2025-12-16). Date basis: Date stated on the publisher’s page. Added to Escape Meridian: 2026-11-09T14:38:23.381Z. First observed: 2026-10-31T10:07:57.327Z. Retrieved: 2026-10-31T10:09:44.640Z. - [Money isn’t everything. We found another powerful currency f](https://www.adpresearch.com/main-street-macro/money-isnt-everything-we-found-another-powerful-currency-for-incentivizing-workers) ## Limits Text as retrieved on October 31, 2026; originally published December 16, 2025. The retrieved text does not identify the individual author, so the reading attributes the argument to ADP Research. The article describes associations and survey findings; it does not establish how much trust or particular workplace practices cause changes in loyalty or productivity. ## Open question How much do trust and recognition affect worker loyalty and productivity compared with bonus pay? ## Source-stated ADP Research reports that the share of U.S. workers receiving a bonus declined from its 2021 peak to 39.7 percent in 2024. > The share of U.S. workers receiving a bonus in 2024 was 39.7 percent, down from a peak of 43.7 in 2021 - [Supporting source](https://www.adpresearch.com/main-street-macro/money-isnt-everything-we-found-another-powerful-currency-for-incentivizing-workers) ## Source-stated ADP Research reports that, in December 2024, pay growth for job-stayers was higher than bonus-pay growth. > In December 2024, year-over-year pay growth was 4.6 percent for job-stayers, which we define as people working at the same employer as they had 12 months earlier. During that same period, bonus pay grew by only 1.3 percent. - [Supporting source](https://www.adpresearch.com/main-street-macro/money-isnt-everything-we-found-another-powerful-currency-for-incentivizing-workers) ## Source-stated ADP Research says its Employee Motivation and Commitment Index draws on a monthly panel survey of a stratified, random sample of U.S. workers. > Each month, this panel survey gathers responses from a stratified, random sample of 2,500 U.S. workers. - [Supporting source](https://www.adpresearch.com/main-street-macro/money-isnt-everything-we-found-another-powerful-currency-for-incentivizing-workers) ## Source-stated ADP Research argues that trust can motivate workers, citing trust in employers’ futures, management, teams and recognition of work. > In essence, the findings boil down to a single word: trust. Trust in a company’s future, trust in management, trust in one’s team, and trust that one’s work will be recognized (perhaps in the form of a bonus). - [Supporting source](https://www.adpresearch.com/main-street-macro/money-isnt-everything-we-found-another-powerful-currency-for-incentivizing-workers) ## Source-stated ADP Research says people quit in record numbers during the Great Resignation despite record pay incentives. > We witnessed this during the Great Resignation, when people quit in record numbers despite record pay incentives. - [Supporting source](https://www.adpresearch.com/main-street-macro/money-isnt-everything-we-found-another-powerful-currency-for-incentivizing-workers) ## Source and contributor context ADP Research · Publisher The publisher is identified here. No individual author has been inferred. ## Source media Media retrieval status: unchecked. ## Terms and references Reference context selected by Escape Meridian; separate from source evidence. Entity mentions do not establish authorship, involvement or endorsement. ## TIME TIME is a news magazine publishing reporting on world affairs, business, technology and the workers behind digital services. - [Explore this context](/entities/time) - [Reference](https://time.com/) ## Editorial provenance Version 1. Publication ID: 42acf46c-9971-30d1-16fc-21ac641b55b2. Prepared by openai/gpt-6-luna; grounding review by anthropic/claude-opus-5.5. Source check: passed by anthropic/claude-opus-5.5 on 2026-11-09T14:33:38.139Z. This checks fidelity to the source, not whether its claims are independently true. Editorial selection: accept; reasons: bridge\_admitted\_by\_model. Observation: e917a7c1dfc36d834452c55e1d1cdb0b5096af6f4ddb5c79198569bc3989cc7e. Source text hash: 2d2d6fe032aa927d1dfed4c310cc539077e41eb8cc6c787a54a01abe4c2408c9. ## Revision and source-check history ### Version 1 — 2026-11-09T14:38:23.381Z ADP Research’s article, published December 16, 2025, argues that trust can motivate workers when bonus pay is less available, and that incentive pay does not always inspire loyalty or commitment. The article describes the principal-agent problem: principals want work done but may lack the ability or time to do it themselves, while agents may not do the work as the principal wants. Bonuses can help align those interests, but ADP Research reports that the share of U.S. workers receiving a bonus fell from a peak in 2021 to 39.7 percent in 2024. Its analysis of anonymized payroll records also found that in December 2024, pay growth for job-stayers outpaced bonus-pay growth. Drawing on its Employee Motivation and Commitment Index, ADP Research identifies trust in a company’s future, management, teams and recognition of workers’ contributions as important to loyalty and productivity. The article argues that feeling supported and seeing contributions recognized can align workers’ efforts with employers’ aims in a way money cannot buy. It also says that during the Great Resignation, people quit in record numbers despite record pay incentives. The article does not establish how much trust, or any particular workplace practice, affects retention or productivity; its findings describe trends and survey responses, not a tested guarantee of outcomes. ## Original source ADP Research · Article Original source date: Dec 16, 2025 (2025-12-16). Date basis: Date stated on the publisher’s page. Added to Escape Meridian: 2026-11-09T14:38:23.381Z. First observed: 2026-10-31T10:07:57.327Z. Retrieved: 2026-10-31T10:09:44.640Z. - [Money isn’t everything. We found another powerful currency f](https://www.adpresearch.com/main-street-macro/money-isnt-everything-we-found-another-powerful-currency-for-incentivizing-workers) ## Limits Text as retrieved on October 31, 2026; originally published December 16, 2025. The retrieved text does not identify the individual author, so the reading attributes the argument to ADP Research. The article describes associations and survey findings; it does not establish how much trust or particular workplace practices cause changes in loyalty or productivity. ## Open question How much do trust and recognition affect worker loyalty and productivity compared with bonus pay? ## Source-stated ADP Research reports that the share of U.S. workers receiving a bonus declined from its 2021 peak to 39.7 percent in 2024. > The share of U.S. workers receiving a bonus in 2024 was 39.7 percent, down from a peak of 43.7 in 2021 - [Supporting source](https://www.adpresearch.com/main-street-macro/money-isnt-everything-we-found-another-powerful-currency-for-incentivizing-workers) ## Source-stated ADP Research reports that, in December 2024, pay growth for job-stayers was higher than bonus-pay growth. > In December 2024, year-over-year pay growth was 4.6 percent for job-stayers, which we define as people working at the same employer as they had 12 months earlier. During that same period, bonus pay grew by only 1.3 percent. - [Supporting source](https://www.adpresearch.com/main-street-macro/money-isnt-everything-we-found-another-powerful-currency-for-incentivizing-workers) ## Source-stated ADP Research says its Employee Motivation and Commitment Index draws on a monthly panel survey of a stratified, random sample of U.S. workers. > Each month, this panel survey gathers responses from a stratified, random sample of 2,500 U.S. workers. - [Supporting source](https://www.adpresearch.com/main-street-macro/money-isnt-everything-we-found-another-powerful-currency-for-incentivizing-workers) ## Source-stated ADP Research argues that trust can motivate workers, citing trust in employers’ futures, management, teams and recognition of work. > In essence, the findings boil down to a single word: trust. Trust in a company’s future, trust in management, trust in one’s team, and trust that one’s work will be recognized (perhaps in the form of a bonus). - [Supporting source](https://www.adpresearch.com/main-street-macro/money-isnt-everything-we-found-another-powerful-currency-for-incentivizing-workers) ## Source-stated ADP Research says people quit in record numbers during the Great Resignation despite record pay incentives. > We witnessed this during the Great Resignation, when people quit in record numbers despite record pay incentives. - [Supporting source](https://www.adpresearch.com/main-street-macro/money-isnt-everything-we-found-another-powerful-currency-for-incentivizing-workers) ## Source and contributor context ADP Research · Publisher The publisher is identified here. No individual author has been inferred. ## Source media Media retrieval status: unchecked. ## Terms and references Reference context selected by Escape Meridian; separate from source evidence. Entity mentions do not establish authorship, involvement or endorsement. ## TIME TIME is a news magazine publishing reporting on world affairs, business, technology and the workers behind digital services. - [Explore this context](/entities/time) - [Reference](https://time.com/) ## Editorial provenance Version 1. Publication ID: 42acf46c-9971-30d1-16fc-21ac641b55b2. Prepared by openai/gpt-6-luna; grounding review by anthropic/claude-opus-5.5. Source check: passed by anthropic/claude-opus-5.5 on 2026-11-09T14:33:38.139Z. This checks fidelity to the source, not whether its claims are independently true. Editorial selection: accept; reasons: bridge\_admitted\_by\_model. Observation: e917a7c1dfc36d834452c55e1d1cdb0b5096af6f4ddb5c79198569bc3989cc7e. Source text hash: 2d2d6fe032aa927d1dfed4c310cc539077e41eb8cc6c787a54a01abe4c2408c9. ### passed — 2026-11-09T14:33:38.139Z — anthropic/claude-opus-5.5 Publication: 42acf46c-9971-30d1-16fc-21ac641b55b2 attribution — pass: This is a single ADP Research Main Street Macro article with its own argument. The text uses a first-person 'My take' but names no individual author. Attributing the argument to ADP Research is reasonable, and the limitations disclose that the author is unnamed. > our research shows that trust is another currency that motivates and incentivizes the workforce summary — pass: The title, summary and question faithfully convey the article's argument that trust works as a motivating currency when bonuses are scarce. The reading explains the principal-agent problem in plain language and preserves the money-can't-buy framing. Leaving out the NER Pulse and week-ahead sections is appropriate, since they are separate newsletter content. 'Job-stayers' and 'Great Resignation' are not glossed, but they are not central enough to block understanding. > the principal’s will and agent’s work align in a way money can’t buy date — pass: The day-precision date of December 16, 2025 is consistent with the text's own week-ahead references, including the delayed BLS reports on Tuesday and the Dec. 23 NER Pulse. Nothing later is presented as part of the original piece, and there is no hindsight framing. The evidence kind is publisher-page, so no archive disclosure is needed. > The NER Pulse will publish in this space next Tuesday, Dec. 23 support — pass: Each claim matches the source text: the 39.7 percent bonus share, job-stayer pay growth of 4.6 percent versus bonus growth of 1.3 percent, the monthly stratified panel of 2,500 workers, the trust findings, and the Great Resignation quits. The caveat that the findings show trends and survey responses rather than causal effects is properly framed as a limitation. It is not presented as the source's claim. > when bottom lines are squeezed and hiring slows, we found that bonuses aren’t as readily available to prod workers into working optimally media — pass: No media was selected, and no verified media candidates were supplied. Selecting none is appropriate. ## Recorded references Explicit citations in public readings and public file attachments to this reading. Shared topics are not citations. Other artifact types need an explicit reference adapter. No public references recorded here yet. [Reference data (JSON)](/readings/3f02234e1ed22aeaf8f8af7fd8baacb3313b77d37153fc737aab6909a3dbae54/references.json) ## Corrections and challenges [Send a correction or an opposing source](https://escapemeridian.com/corrections/) [JSON record](https://escapemeridian.com/readings/adp-research-argues-trust-can-motivate-workers-when-bonuses-3f02234e.json)