Luckily when I started at my company, FY-end bonuses had already bounced around I learned to treat them like a Christmas present. The individual performance as

Luckily when I started at my company, FY-end bonuses had already bounced around I learned to treat them like a Christmas present. The individual performance aspect existed on paper, but no management chain exercised that because it ruined team dynamics. The only time I saw that done was because someone was basically no-show but it was too hard to fire them, so they got 0 bonus, and their share got spread to the rest of the team. Awards are similar. I rarely get them for the things I really deserve them for. Sometimes I'd get $250 for 2 hours of work helping some big project and got roped in the list because I was on an email chain. Sometimes I'd get one because the project I did the year before got eclipsed by something else, and nothing this year under my VP merited it. Folks get angsty about what/who deserves one and what doesn't. It seems the less talented/hardworking the person, the angstier they are. I try to teach the newer folks around me: - Don't expect them - Don't get jealous, you don't know the whole situation. - Just be happy when you get a little cash. - You won't get them when you should, you will sometimes when you shouldn't. You have absolutely no control of end-of-FY bonuses. Buy something fun (a new TV, game console, or hobby thing) and stash the rest. Do not use it for a down payment on something like a new car/boat/house (unless it's just tacking more on to something you were already buying). I've seen too many people do that and end up underwater the next year when we get nothing and they were banking on it for payments.