It's not that I think commendations are bad, but the fact that you can't give one to someone who's left the party means that a newbie player often never gets the chance to leave one, because they may be watching the cut scene while everyone else scampers off.

Similarly, because there is an incentive to leave commendations, you have people being commended who may either be not worth it, or they were just plain unmemorable.

So, yeah, I'm ok with changes to the Commendation system, but the method suggested by the OP isn't the way to do it.