Why paying bonuses to employees isn't always a good idea

Fundamentally misses the original notion behind company bonuses. The idea was, a base salary, plus a bonus based on company performance. So, participate in corporate profit (theoretically in a transparent way) without locking that into salary structure.

Key is, do not incorporate individual performance. That introduces subjective factors and conflicts between 'my goals' and 'company goals'.

The second and third options both look like "do things you think we will like and maybe we will reward them". Lottery tickets are cheaper and require less effort.