Dear Dr. Mimi:
I need help with distributing bonuses. Unfortunately, despite extra efforts by the team and me, our performance was average and the bonus pool isn’t as large as it was in past years. I could give the same bonus to everyone, but some people have more complex jobs and others have only been with us a short time. Second, I could give bonuses to the highest performers to reward their efforts and motivate others to up their game. Lastly, I could keep the bonus for myself and tell my employees that, because of our performance, we aren’t doing bonuses this year. What should I do?
—Money on My Mind

Dear Money:
Because the bonus pool is more modest than it has been in the past, it would be more beneficial to your people to distribute the bonuses to your staff by creating a baseline bonus amount, and then distributing another merit-based bonus for your more diligent employees.
It’s not right to keep the bonus for yourself; your staff deserves the recognition.

—Dr. Mimi