Are you sweetening the raise pool for 2011?

Many companies are planning to loosen the purse strings for employees’ merit raises this year, according to new research.

The average merit hike will be  3.0% in 2011, according to HR consulting giant Towers Watson. Last year’s average raise was 2.7%.

Before the current financial crisis hit, increases typically averaged between 3.5% and 4.0%, Towers Watson said.

Although the picture’s brightening for a lot of employers, some are still feeling the pinch, according to the survey: 5% plan to freeze salaries for all workers this year, the same percentage as last year.

In 2010, the largest merit increases (4.0%) went to workers who far exceeded their performance expectations, while those who exceeded expectations received a 3.4% average increase.

No big surprise here: Workers who didn’t meet performance expectations got no raises in 2010, Towers Watson said..