This is incorrect. We are considering the option as a bonus in lieu of a stock or cash bonus. The option can lose its entire value much more easily than either a cash or stock bonus. Both cash and stock bonuses immediately transfer value to employees while options make their value transfer contingent on the rising stock price. Thus options place the bonus risk on the employees while cash or stock bonuses place the risk on the shareholders.
Options allow the company to pay for employee motivation with less risk.
This clearly seems like a good compensation tactic. We can examine the first two characteristics without the correlation of the third by thinking about an option on a different company's stock. Suppose another company had similar prospects as your company. Not that it would be advised, but your company could award your employee bonuses as options on this other company's stock. This would defer the payouts and give them similar probabilistic payouts as in 1 and 2, but without the correlation of 3.