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

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

#181

Post by deeng » Tue, Jun 18, 2019, 6:24 PM UTC

gameswithgo wrote: post #152

GlenTheMachine wrote: post #79

My employer, a US DoD component, had a program called “On The Spot” awards. The idea was that if you had done something outstanding, your first line supervisor could authorize an immediate bonus of up to $1000. Being the DoD, it couldn’t be that simple. They decided that actually the bonuses had to be approved by your second, third, and fourth line supervisors. And also by the program manager at the sponsoring agency…

A challenge coin! Are people who tend to run companies total children, or do they think that those of us working for them are children?

Yes.

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

#182

Post by brianpgordon » Tue, Jun 18, 2019, 6:25 PM UTC

4ntonius8lock wrote: post #131

I once worked for a company that was on the verge of bankruptcy. The owner (main shareholder) of the company decided that what the company needed was a new CEO to turn the ship around. At the time, the company was so broke that we were getting less than the needed amount of office supplies. At the end of each month, basics were missing. So us, the employees, were bringing in our own toilet paper, coffee, cleaning mat…

Isn't providing insufficient restroom facilities an OSHA violation?

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

#183

Post by hinkley » Tue, Jun 18, 2019, 6:29 PM UTC

One place handed out awards to half a dozen of us but the ceremony and the gift were not given at the same time.

We had to harangue them for 6 weeks before they gave us the damned thing and by that point the fact that we had to work for it a second time completely undermined the thoughtfulness of the original idea.

And earlier boss would come to us at 10 am on Friday and said we could leave early if we finished up early. The third time he did this we all shot daggers at him and there was no fourth time. Because every time he did this we ended up staying late on Friday instead of leaving early. This is the same guy who argued my estimates for a project down by 50% and then the project took 3x as long as he told the customer (if you don't have time to do it right you have time to do it over). But that's a different story.

It's important not to offer an award that you are not 100% sure you can follow through on. It's way worse than nothing. It's Lucy and the fucking football.

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

#184

Post by oh_sigh » Tue, Jun 18, 2019, 6:31 PM UTC

bastawhiz wrote: post #145

oh_sigh wrote: post #104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well then they can get the pork chop

Then maybe they should have used the extra five brain cycles to decide to offer a pork chop dinner instead.

Person A: Do you want to get tacos for lunch?

Person B: Sure

- goes to taco stand -

Person A: 3 tacos please

Person B: I'll take the enchiladas

Person A: Oh my god, we were supposed to be getting tacos for lunch. How could you do this to me?

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

#185

Post by devchix » Tue, Jun 18, 2019, 6:34 PM UTC

I read this thread with such a jaundiced eye; from blunt cluelessness to outright cruelty - who is on the other side of these transactions? Surely these are humans who think about the things they (do to|inflict on) their underlings? Surely they are surrounded by other humans of moderate good sense who could see the harmful, if unintended consequence and talk them out of it? And yet, here we are.

My contribution: office Christmas party. One drink ticket. Spouse or significant other specifically, emphatically, disinvited.

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

#186

Post by hinkley » Tue, Jun 18, 2019, 6:37 PM UTC

7402 wrote: post #71

At the end of a project death-march (at one point I turned in a >100 hour timecard), the division director had a celebratory thank-you dinner for all the managers involved in the project. My direct supervisor was at first puzzled as to why I wasn't coming with him to the dinner at the end of the day, and then he was quite appalled - I think he later had words with the director about the whole thing.

I'd bet money that most of those managers weren't even in the building for most of that death march.

I have a standing rule. If I work overtime it's because I fucked up. I said something would be done by Friday but I goofed off, I'll work.

If I'm working nights and weekends for business reasons, then my manager is in the building the entire time. A lot of them tone down their rhetoric when you make them put skin in the game. All of a sudden some of the scope gets negotiated down.

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

#187

Post by tssva » Tue, Jun 18, 2019, 6:42 PM UTC

GlenTheMachine wrote: post #79

My employer, a US DoD component, had a program called “On The Spot” awards. The idea was that if you had done something outstanding, your first line supervisor could authorize an immediate bonus of up to $1000. Being the DoD, it couldn’t be that simple. They decided that actually the bonuses had to be approved by your second, third, and fourth line supervisors. And also by the program manager at the sponsoring agency…

Besides the overtime everything else would be part of the job you were being paid to do. As a federal employee depending on your job classification you were paid either 1.5x your salary or 1.5x the salary of a GS-10 Step 1 adjusted for your locality for the overtime. Most likely in private industry you would be a salaried employee and not have received overtime pay or a bonus which exceeds what you received in overtime pay.

Also challenge coins, especially given to a civilian employee, are considered an honor in the DoD. Your post gives the impression of a great sense of entitlement on your part.

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

#188

Post by hinkley » Tue, Jun 18, 2019, 6:42 PM UTC

duxup wrote: post #6

Areading314 wrote: post #3

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

I once traveled with a college who was socially a bit hard to handle. So we go out to the valley from the Midwest and he keeps suggesting we go to burger joints with the local team that is about %70 Indian. Everyone kept looking at me like "What the hell?".

One of the places I mentioned in another post did pizza on fridays as a teambuilding lunch thing. It would have been nice except it took us about two months to convince them to order a vegetarian pizza for our Indian coworkers. Didn't feel like teambuilding.

But as I meet more and more people with food sensitivities I think that providing food for an event is just fraught anyway, and maybe you should try something else.

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

#189

Post by 4ntonius8lock » Tue, Jun 18, 2019, 6:44 PM UTC

brianpgordon wrote: post #182

4ntonius8lock wrote: post #131

I once worked for a company that was on the verge of bankruptcy. The owner (main shareholder) of the company decided that what the company needed was a new CEO to turn the ship around. At the time, the company was so broke that we were getting less than the needed amount of office supplies. At the end of each month, basics were missing. So us, the employees, were bringing in our own toilet paper, coffee, cleaning mat…

Isn't providing insufficient restroom facilities an OSHA violation?

It wasn't in the US. I'm sure it was a violation of some code in that country, but if the company is close to bankruptcy... you can't bleed a rock. The only way for the remaining employees to see what was owed to them was for the company to keep sputtering on.

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

#190

Post by x2f10 » Tue, Jun 18, 2019, 6:45 PM UTC

ravroid wrote: post #174

Thiez wrote: post #149

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A wage increase of over 10% every few months doesn't sound so bad. I don't suppose it was a regular thing?

That was the only raise I received unfortunately. But once I realized that the work I was doing produced the same value as salaried employees, I learned to use leverage to negotiate better compensation. I haven't waited around for a raise ever since.

What's a good way to go about this?