+1 for mentioning the arbitrary curve-based ranking common in big companies. Tightly coupling salary/bonuses to performance reviews with this type of system is

+1 for mentioning the arbitrary curve-based ranking common in big companies. Tightly coupling salary/bonuses to performance reviews with this type of system is a disaster. Unfortunately, my experience is that most managers in such a system lack the insight to minimize the effect on employees. Maybe when you're talking about minimizing the effect of telling an employee they are (non-deservedly) one of the "3" performers, you've already lost the battle . . . Add in the inevitable weird corporate culture stuff "you are a '3' because you got promoted this year, it's just your turn in the box" and you have a perfect recipe for draining motivation away from employees.