The worst morale-boosting gesture I've experienced • Hacker News Board

Re: The worst morale-boosting gesture I've experienced

#51

Post by pavel_lishin » Tue, Jun 18, 2019, 3:55 PM UTC

StavrosK wrote: post #34

We need to find a name for a gesture so small in its generosity that it ends up being offensive. No bonus would have left me disappointed, but a $50 bonus would have made me angry. Like when Delta gave a food voucher to make up for a 5-hour delay on a 30-minute file. The voucher was for $3. Fuck Delta.

When my entire engineering team was laid off, work organized farewell drinks for us.

Except they didn't actually budget for this. Their idea was that the whole office would go out and... celebrate? Us being laid off? And pay for it ourselves?

Re: The worst morale-boosting gesture I've experienced

#52

Post by ravroid » Tue, Jun 18, 2019, 3:55 PM UTC

jchw wrote: post #12

A certain startup I worked at, the CEO would give out... gift cards. Occasionally, usually after someone was severely overworked. And I’m pretty certain he got them for free/cheap in the first place. Of course, the real red flag was starting at $10/hr 1099’d (almost definitely illegally) and being told it’s more than most people start at. For software engineering. After a good interview. I was astounded and perplexed…

When I first started out as a software dev for an agency, I was offered $9/hr. I took it because it was more than the minimum wage I was making at my restaurant job.

After a few months they rewarded me for my hard work by giving me a raise of $1. At the time I was grateful but now I realize what an insult that was.

Re: The worst morale-boosting gesture I've experienced

#53

Post by robin_reala » Tue, Jun 18, 2019, 3:56 PM UTC

StavrosK wrote: post #34

We need to find a name for a gesture so small in its generosity that it ends up being offensive. No bonus would have left me disappointed, but a $50 bonus would have made me angry. Like when Delta gave a food voucher to make up for a 5-hour delay on a 30-minute file. The voucher was for $3. Fuck Delta.

Ah, the US. 3+ hour delay in the EU and you’re automatically entitled to a minimum of €250 compensation. Airlines try _very_ hard for that not to happen.

https://europa.eu/youreurope/citizens/travel/passenger-right...

Re: The worst morale-boosting gesture I've experienced

#54

Post by itronitron » Tue, Jun 18, 2019, 3:57 PM UTC

lazyasciiart wrote: post #14

My younger sister received an award for being a promising new grad or something in her first year at one of the Big 4 accounting companies. Her prize? A public ceremony where a senior manager handed her a copy of 50 Shades of Grey.......

Somewhere down that path one of the executive admins should have put the brakes on that particular book purchase. The fact that they didn't says something about the company.

If she was the only person that received 50 Shades and other people received different books then that is an obvious case of harassment.

Re: The worst morale-boosting gesture I've experienced

#55

Post by protomyth » Tue, Jun 18, 2019, 3:57 PM UTC

1121redblackgo wrote: post #22

mabbo wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

... had they read the book? Or just heard it was popular? I'm trying to mentally justify how this isn't the craziest, stupidest idea ever.

If I really stretched my imagination, maybe 'She's worked so hard and did so well for our company, maybe she deserves to take a nice vacation, here's the most popular book for women to symbolize that'.

You are putting a bit too much thought into the decision making. I figure someone walked into the book store and picked the book from the first bestseller display.

Never attribute to malice or ignorance what can adequately explained by lazy.

Re: The worst morale-boosting gesture I've experienced

#56

Post by Someone1234 » Tue, Jun 18, 2019, 3:58 PM UTC

lostphilosopher wrote: post #42

Not a counter point to this article, but a counter point to the efficacy of monetary rewards. > "Study showed that monetary incentives are great for routine, mechanical work. But how does it play when talking about cognitive, advanced tasks? Not well at all." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dgKKPQiRRag Counter-counter point: If anyone ever points you to this for evidence _you_ shouldn't get a bonus/monetary reward sy…

This is a different topic than the article and the discussion so far.

A yearly bonus or a "thank you"/party/etc aren't rewards tied to specific tasks. They're meant to be gestures of appropriation. You're discussing a bonus structure that ties financial incentives to very specific work items, and rewards them accordingly.

I'm not disagreeing with your point, just pointing out they're two different topics.

Re: The worst morale-boosting gesture I've experienced

#57

Post by radcon » Tue, Jun 18, 2019, 3:58 PM UTC

ThinkBeat wrote: post #31

I worked at one of those companies that earned ridiculous money refinancing peoples homes during the run-up to the financial crisis. (Yes, I now know it was quite unethical) They had a boiler room team of salespeople who made an insane amount of money. We are talking six figures a month. They were not at all highly skilled or had any financial background or degree. Their bonuses could be a luxury car. (or once a hors…

> A $50 gift card for a ham.

Sounds like they were a little too inspired by National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation. I guess the Jelly of the Month Club was all sold out though.

Re: The worst morale-boosting gesture I've experienced

#58

Post by punk-coder » Tue, Jun 18, 2019, 3:59 PM UTC

duxup wrote: post #5

At a company I worked at it was bonus time. Bonuses had been a point of contention forever as the company always bugled the metrics and despite a lot of talk bonuses were hard to account for. So anyway they announce a "Christmas Bonus": $50.... I mean I'll take $50 but it felt like such an empty gesture. Just a few years earlier I had gotten $150 bonus while working at a pizza joint. The HR person who sent out the su…

My ex worked at Home Depot corporate office, and their Christmas bonus was Home Depot gift cards.

Re: The worst morale-boosting gesture I've experienced

#59

Post by Areading314 » Tue, Jun 18, 2019, 3:59 PM UTC

billfruit wrote: post #13

Areading314 wrote: post #3

On a team with many colleagues from India, was repeatedly promised steak dinners if we were able to meet deadlines.

There are plenty of Indians fine with steak dinners. India is a pretty diverse country.

I know -- my colleagues were not though!

Re: The worst morale-boosting gesture I've experienced

#60

Post by duxup » Tue, Jun 18, 2019, 4:00 PM UTC

Someone1234 wrote: post #47

Considering how expensive staff are, I've never understood the culture surrounding penny pinching the stuff that would keep them happy/improve moral/improve retention. Forget the moral arguments for a second, even in purely financial terms it would likely pay for itself in recruitment savings alone, let alone brain drain/efficiency, training costs, and so on. Even a "cheap" employee in a white collar job, is likely c…

I'm with you, with all the costs a bonus seems like a pretty arbitrary place to make the call to be cheap.

In the situation I was in there were some penny punchers who felt quite proud of saving a couple hundred bucks here or there and couldn't see the forest through the trees of the misc expenses they were "saving".

It was really just poor management.