A Bonus is not an incentive.

Bonus is a not pre-planned reward, that basically says “we did well and want to share – thanks” … Be careful about repeating bonuses, however, as quickly become entitlements … might as well add to base salary.

Incentives are pre-planned, “hit these numbers and get this money” type of rewards … Power of incentives is in ability to align performance to achieve specific objectives … well designed incentives do not make good people work harder as much as tell them specifically what you need for them to do… incentives can be repeated as should pay for themselves ….