Do you reserve a portion of the company bonus pool to recognize individual performance when overall company performance is below target? If so, do you take a uniform approach to all levels of employees?
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Some companies I worked for in the past did this by "holding back" a percentage of the company's annual budget for variable pay incentives and base pay increases. For example if the annual merit increase budget was 3% of the company's total base salary expense, leaders of an organization within the company could instruct their teams to propose salary increases equal to 2.75% of that organization's total base pay expense. Once the teams had submitted their proposed base pay increases, leaders allocated the funds equal to the remaining .25%. Allocation decisions were made according to known company policies and practices (ie: address internal pay equity issues for high-performing employees). As best I can recall, this practice helped managers motivate and retain employees, especially during times when the company as a whole was not meeting performance expectations. Anyone considering such a practice should be transparent with leaders about the intended reasons for it, to maintain trust in the company's compensation practices.
In past organizations, incentive goal payments were based on a portion for company performance and a portion for individual goal achievement. The split varied based on your level in the organization. In addition, I have also experienced where the organization was granted a merit pool and leadership held back a half of a percent to award exceptional performance during the year (a major project achievement).