[kradroy]

I work at a company where they're very transparent about bonuses. I've been told by the VP of my department that it's always advantageous to align my compensation with that of the higher-ups. They usually opt for higher base bonus percentage from their merit increases. Our base bonus percentage is not fixed. It can increase each year. You can start at a 9% bonus, but 3 years later it could be 15%.

Each year they announce how much, by percent, the bonus pool will be funded. And as long as I've worked there the bonus pool has been funded at >100%. The company is very fiscally responsible and they do everything in their power to meet their targets.

There are 4 categories of performance and if you meet the top two, you're guaranteed 100%. The policy for how much bonus % you receive is in the employee handbook. So your bonus is: (your base bonus percentage) * (performance percentage) * (bonus pool funding percentage) * (base salary). The only way you can get screwed is if you're tagged as underperforming. I've only known one person who's to ever receive that tag, and he was definitely underperforming.