I recall vividly a discussion I had with an R&D manager a few
years back.  It was bonus time, and he was disappointed with the amount
of his bonus.  He demanded to know why his bonus was smaller in that
year than it had been in years previous, even though the company had
experienced tremendous growth and increased profits.

We talked about his performance for the year (and how it related to
years past.)  He was a creative and talented product developer.  He had
a sense for what would sell.  He had an ability to bring new products
to market quickly, and within the price range of our products.  He was
a valuable member of the team.

But this particular year had been a bad year.  He had gone through
some difficult personal challenges which had had a dramatic impact on
his productivity.  In fact, in that entire year, he had only produced
one product that actually made it to market, and that product had shown
pretty dismal sales results.

“But last year I developed [product A] and you made a lot of money
on that.  The year before that I developed [product B] and you made a
lot of money off that one too.  In fact, you’re still selling both of
those products and they represent a large part of the sales increase
for this year.  I think it’s only fair I be compensated for that!”

What would you say?

Here’s what I told him:  “Two years ago, when you developed [product
B] you received a handsome bonus.  Last year when you developed
[product A] you also received a large bonus.  So I already paid you for
those products.  The nature of your job is to develop products.  You
would have to expect that we’re going to sell those products for years
to come.  You don’t get penalized when a product is a failure (even
though we put hundreds of thousands of dollars into its development and
marketing) and by the same token, you don’t get paid extra when a
product does well.  Your job description is to innovate — to develop
successful new products — you’re basically paid to innovate.  For the
last two years you were very innovative, and were well-paid for that
innovation.  This year was different.  We only came out with one
product and it wasn’t very innovative.  It was mostly a re-hash and it
wasn’t successful because of that.  I think your bonus exceeds the
value of this year’s innovation and I’m going to stick with that
amount.  I will tell you, however, that when you begin to innovated
again, I will begin to pay you bonuses that reflect my appreciation for
that innovation.”

As you can imagine, he wasn’t terribly happy.  But he did understand
why his bonus was as it was.  We can’t ride high (and we can’t let our
employees ride high) on what happened years ago.  At the end of each
fiscal year we close the books and whatever happened happened — for
better or for worse.  We settle up with the employees (or we’re settled
up with ourselves by the board of directors) and we move on.

Ask yourself when your last home run occurred.  If you’re still
talking about home runs you hit “last season” or the season before,
it’s time to start thinking about how and when you’re going to hit one
(or more) this year.  Also, take a look at each of your managers.  When
was the last time each of them hit a home run?  Remember, once the
books are closed it’s all about, “what have you done for me lately.” 
The question is not offensive to those who produce regularly.  They
want to tell you exactly what they’ve done lately.  The people offended
by the question are the ones who are coasting along on accomplishments
that are old news.