Typically, companies will link grants to organizational levels or salary grades. A good rule of thumb is that each tier in the organization should get half of the options of the tier above it. Grant ranges can target within low and high levels, with the ultimate determination being based on individual employee performance on an ongoing basis. Although stock options can be used as rewards for performance, the most common type of options grants are ongoing grants and new hire grants. An ongoing grant recurs each year until the plan changes, while a new hire grant is a one-time grant.
Some companies offer both new hire grants and ongoing grants.
That number surprises people sometimes. The idea is that the company initially wants to get the employee hired on, but down the line making sure they retain the employee by giving them ongoing grants with vesting schedules attached to them. In the high tech industry especially, most employees receive grants when they walk in the door. Ongoing grants, however tend to diminish as you go down the pay scale. The guidelines that you use should be reviewed annually by a compensation committee and with the board of directors.