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I was at Sard Verbinnen and there (and I think at peers like Joele Frank, Ketchum, etc) you start getting bonuses at the first review, regardless of level.
Sard does them every six months but if you start too close to a review then you’ll have to wait for the next to get your bonus. Relatively good #s for an agency but of course you sacrifice your whole personal life so… pros and cons hahaha. It’s tied directly to company performance as well as your own performance reviews from higher ups, and your billable hours. They also used to take your office’s performance into account but I think they were considering phasing that out bc it drove office tensions, not sure if they did or not.
At my current boutique we did random spot bonuses but are now implementing a formal bonus program tied to annual performance, all levels are able to participate and it correlates to company and individual performance, hours don’t matter.
Also interested in hearing from folks in other agencies of course!
SVP or above at Weber. Not sure on the percentage. One day… 😂
Typically a year into the role - your manager should have those details for you based on your specific hiring date.
Cant speak to Weber, but at most agencies SVP and up is where eligibility starts - and in very good years or high performers VPs as well. Typical amounts are maybe 3-6% of your salary, but can go up in really amazing years, when you’re more senior or when you personally contributed substantially to the financial performance. I wouldn’t get your hopes up for more than 15% of salary these days though unless you are a golden goose for the agency and loved by your CEO/CFO.
Some high performance client organizations share bonuses with the agency under the direction that they must be distributed to the account team. Again this is rare - but a nice find when you get on one of those teams.
Corporate, issues and crisis specialty PR firms typically offer real bonuses, chunky percentages of your base (10-50% depending on level).
I suspect most folks here are talking about 2-3 different bonus structures, and typically you either need to be employed for a full year to be eligible - though some may prorate the total amount for a given duration of time, if you’ve been there less than a year. At most agencies:
Junior level employees typically are eligible for an all-company bonus 1x annually; this is generally a set amount, not tied to billable hours… but only happens if the company’s overall financial support it. Typically happens either at end of calendar/holiday or end of fiscal, and often is 1/1.5/2X your normal paycheck.
Senior employees (often VP+ or SVP+, depending on agency) are typically eligible for an annual bonus or MIP (manager incentive plan), which is tied to the financial performance of the overall company, office geography, and/or individual practice.
Specialty practices may receive additional, discretionary bonuses that they generally like to keep secret so other practices don’t lose their minds. Financial communications almost always falls in this bucket; occasionally others do as well.
Then, spot bonuses - totally discretionary by either manager or team lead and generally allocated to junior employees. Annual pool is use it or lose it, and often shared by an entire office or practice, so leads must weigh who is most deserving.
We get bonuses?!