Equally shared bonus pools were fairly common in top-tier professional services firms until the late 1990s, and even when they changed, most kept fairly equal distributions of profits between partners and to associates.
However, almost all of those firms used a stack ranking system that was even more aggressive - those at the top got promoted, those in the middle got worked out over time, and those at the bottom got fired.
Shared bonus pools work when a company has an aggressive performance management culture, but this doesn't become visible as long as the company is doing well.
When things are good, everyone is getting an extra lump of cash, even if it has nothing to do with their individual performance. But when the market changes, top performers flee because they realize they can make a lot more money someplace else, and that they'll never hit their goals until the company gets rid of the stragglers at the bottom and stops settling for mediocrity among everyone else.
However, almost all of those firms used a stack ranking system that was even more aggressive - those at the top got promoted, those in the middle got worked out over time, and those at the bottom got fired.
Shared bonus pools work when a company has an aggressive performance management culture, but this doesn't become visible as long as the company is doing well. When things are good, everyone is getting an extra lump of cash, even if it has nothing to do with their individual performance. But when the market changes, top performers flee because they realize they can make a lot more money someplace else, and that they'll never hit their goals until the company gets rid of the stragglers at the bottom and stops settling for mediocrity among everyone else.