Uh....I didn't see where commendations were supposed to be performance based. You give a commendation to whatever party member you feel deserves it and you can use whatever metric you like -- or just be random. I usually give my commendations to new people to encourage them or to players who were polite/helpful during the run, especially if it was not the best run. Other than that, I just sorta randomly click on whatever name appeals to me.

I don't commend people for being good at their jobs, just like I don't expect commendations even if I play well. The fact that you expect commendations means you don't deserve them.