It's actually become an interview question for me of "is there a bonus scheme" where I'm hoping the answer is actually no. I've yet to work in a company that has a structured bonus scheme that hasn't resulted in a worse culture for it.
The worst was in a company where your max bonus was depending on getting a "5 out of 5" performance review - however the whole business unit needed to average out to a particular number (I'm fairly sure it needed to be down the middle at 3 out of 5). What this meant was for every exceptional employee, someone else had to be under-performing in the eyes of the company. The end result was two types of teams: no one would rock the boat or have any initiative so everyone was perfectly average, or completely cut throat attitudes leading to burn out and animosity.
YMMV but to date I haven't had a good time in a company that has bonus schemes (even if I personally have financially benefited from it - the cost came at culture, stress and work life balances).
The worst was in a company where your max bonus was depending on getting a "5 out of 5" performance review - however the whole business unit needed to average out to a particular number (I'm fairly sure it needed to be down the middle at 3 out of 5). What this meant was for every exceptional employee, someone else had to be under-performing in the eyes of the company. The end result was two types of teams: no one would rock the boat or have any initiative so everyone was perfectly average, or completely cut throat attitudes leading to burn out and animosity.
YMMV but to date I haven't had a good time in a company that has bonus schemes (even if I personally have financially benefited from it - the cost came at culture, stress and work life balances).