Should I thank my bosses for my end of the year bonus?

Why wouldn’t you?

Is the bonus from them or from the company? If it’s from them, then I would thank them. If it’s really from your company then there is no need to thank them.

If you want another end of year bonus, I would thank them.
If you can’t do it face to face, send a little note that says “Thanks for the bonus. It came in handy, and I appreciate it.”

Yes. When such things are acknowledged and appreciated, they’re more likely to happen again.

In general, email’s not the best medium for writing a thank-you note. This is a business situation, however, so email’s fine. I’d write just one message, brief but sincere, and send it to all the bosses involved.

@chyna Someone had to have said good things about @SwanSwanHummingbird and recommended a bonus.

I work for a small law firm. The partners are my bosses. Do you think an email would suffice? The firm is all about using as little paper as possible, which is soo hard for a law firm. Plus, this is a VERY laid-back office.

@SadieMartinPaul Not necessarily. Everyone in my company got the same bonus.

If it’s a small company, yes, I would. If it’s Walmart… no.

Most definitely! If I worked for a small organization where you know everyone, I’d definitely thank them – profusely!!

Thank anyone or any company who still gives out bonuses.

Absolutely !!!

Yes.

We took all our employees and their families to Disneyland one year. They were very grateful. Then they started asking what we were going to do the next year. We couldn’t afford to do it again for about three more years. When we did it the second time we didn’t even get a thank you.
We probably won’t do it again.

@Judi “When we did it the second time we didn’t even get a thank you. We probably won’t do it again.”

This surprises me. Did you do it for the gratitude, or as a nice thing to do for the employees? Or do you just think that they did not want to go?

@glacial, it was a BONUS, a gift and a huge financial sacrifice. When they started treating it like an entitlement we lost our motivation to do it.

@Judi But if it was a bonus, doesn’t that imply that they earned it? It seems odd to withhold a bonus just because the employees are not effusive enough.

I don’t mean to derail the thread with this, I just find it very interesting. From the employee’s point of view, I always found thanking the boss for things at least a little bit awkward, because you don’t want to be perceived as sucking up. And in the case of a bonus, it seems to me that it is the boss who is in the position of saying, “Thank you” for the year’s work. Isn’t that the whole point of the thing?

When someone says “Thank you”, sometimes I say “Thank you” back, and sometimes I say “You’re welcome!”

When they gave you the bonus, were they saying “Thank you”?

A bonus is a way of saying, “You did a great job this year.” If your boss said that, would you not thank him for doing so? Same thing with the bonus. Awkward or not, it’s nice to show appreciation when an employer is being particularly generous. They don’t have to give you any bonus.

Sure. I always did.

@glacial, it was not earned or promised. It was a gift. They were not taxed for it.

As someone who gave out bonuses – yes!

I am under no obligation to provide one, it is a gift of appreciation.

It’s qualitatively the same as expecting a beggar to be thankful for your loose change.

I’m sure the boss will feel smugly magnanimous and generous by the gesture, and you’re expected to be obsequiously grateful (as demonstrated by the numerous responses here).

Frankly, I find the whole thing absurd, and indicative of the disparity in social power at play. Your bosses may be nice people, and the small firm you work at might well be a relatively amiable environment, but don’t degrade yourself with any excessive fawning.

Something like, “I appreciate your recognition for the tireless work I’ve done this year”, would be enough.

@Judi I wouldn’t be thanking you for a free day out to Disneyland. Are you trying to torture the people working for you?

@Kropotkin It’s not degrading to be appreciative and say “thank you.” It’s civil.

@SadieMartinPaul I agree that saying thank you for a bonus is about civility, and is not degrading. However, if the boss is giving a bonus on the expectation of the thank you… that is degrading. I’m with @Kropotkin on that part of it.

Yes, you can thank your boss in-person for recognizing the work you did or email him a short thank you for the bonus.

Of course you should, especially in a small business. A handwritten thank you note is far more impressive than an email. It may be a laid back office, but that doesn’t mean that appreciation is unnecessary. They were under no obligation to give you a bonus. Saying thank you is a way to recognize your appreciation for their decision to do so.

@Kropotkin – Expressing genuine thanks is not fawning.

When I was an employee I would express gratitude too. With one boss they gave us a $25 grocery gift card. It doesn’t seem like much but when you multiply it by 50 employees you realize that it was quite generous considering the small size of our company.
When I thanked the boss and told him I realized how big of a cut out of HIS paycheck it was he thanked me for recognizing that and said I was the only one who had thanked him. It made me sad.
In making a decision whether or not to thank your boss I would ask myself if I want to incentivize my boss to give bonuses in the future.
@Kropotkin, no one was forced to go. One employee almost didn’t go but his friends daughter wanted to go and since we were paying for a guest as well and his friend lived in LA he decided to take her.

I thanked my 3 bosses and one returned my email—the head boss. He said I deserved it and they love the energy I give to the firm. Yay me!