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Thanks for the Bonus, I Quit

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Re: Thanks for the Bonus, I Quit

#651

Post by bsder »

emodendroket wrote: post #649
bsder wrote: post #646

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The issue is that someone genuinely homeless will happily take the drink and sandwich and consume them later (thus the "no mayo") if they happen to not be hungry right now. Someone who is panhandling wants money and they get very angry when you interrupt that process. At least in the US, the panhandlers tend not to be the genuinely homeless--they mostly tend to be scummy people. It's a semi-regular news occurrence fo…

> Someone who is panhandling wants money and they get very angry when you interrupt that process. At least in the US, the panhandlers tend not to be the genuinely homeless--they mostly tend to be scummy people. It's a semi-regular news occurrence for someone to follow a panhandler with a camera to find out they really aren't homeless. My belief is that this is a very small percentage of beggars and the videos are so…

Maybe it's different for where you are, but I used to see several beggars park their car and unpack before lunch and repack and drive away once past dinner. One would bring a woman and 2 children to help panhandle. These aren't the exceptions--they're the norm.

Should we be helping these people? Yes.

Is panhandling money really helping these people? Not really.

Re: Thanks for the Bonus, I Quit

#652

Post by noisy_boy »

sofal wrote: post #576
noisy_boy wrote: post #186

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My view is: everything is comparative but if you make everything a comparison, boy you are in for a world of hurt. Life is mostly unfair so better treat the good times like the bonus that they are.

And my view is: if you're not paying attention to what is going on around you, you will be taken advantage of. There is a balance here.

Indeed - thats why I used the word "everything".

Re: Thanks for the Bonus, I Quit

#653

Post by pdimitar »

adamcharnock wrote: post #57

This reminds me of my first job as a developer, age 21. I haven’t shared it before, so here goes... There was a ‘crunch’ coming up at work (i.e. IMHO, bad planning) and so the boss offered everyone a bonus if they performed well. However, the older employees warned me that the criteria for such bonuses were often ill-defined. I therefore pushed for clear achievable objectives. These pre-agreed objectives were promise…

> what is to stop me threatening to resign every time I don’t get my way? To which I calmly explain that he didn’t have to pay (Ie. I could just quit).

This might be my English failing me but I can't understand your answer; it doesn't seem like it's actually addressing the question that was asked to you.

Could you elaborate a little further? I was met with that question before and would like to learn how to handle it well.

Re: Thanks for the Bonus, I Quit

#654

Post by m463 »

pinkybanana wrote: post #461
faeyanpiraat wrote: post #314

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You really shouldn’t feel bad, because what happened has a low probability. It’s like saying I should’ve invested in X which got quadrupled in price last year. Most stocks (even very promising ones) didn’t achieve anywhere near that growth. So you choosing the right one among the many to “shut up and stick to it just a little bit longer” has a low chance of exceptional returns on your investment. You cannot see the f…

The problem is that people make lots of claims towards the direction of "stock options are always worthless" when they should say more like "stock options are often worthless but sometimes can be ridiculously valuable". Startup game just provides high returns to small minority, and some people after couple of negative experience seem to decide that everything must suck then and spread it around in here and other foru…

silicon valley toilet paper. :)

https://dilbert.com/strip/2001-03-15

Re: Thanks for the Bonus, I Quit

#655

Post by M2Ys4U »

emodendroket wrote: post #578
M2Ys4U wrote: post #559

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The John Lewis Partnership[0] in the UK (which owns a chain of department stores[1] and the supermarket chain Waitrose[2]) has more than 80,000 employees and operates like a cooperative. Technically it's a Public Limited Company (albeit one wholly owned by a trust for the benefit of its employees), but it does run an internal democratic system. Profits are distributed to employees as bonus, which is a uniform percent…

That’s cool but isn’t it similar to the incentive pay programs or RSUs/ESPPs offered by traditional employers? Not to mention that once the company is large, it’s hard to feel you have that much control over the success of the entire company.

Employees of JL don't own any shares. They cannot be bought or sold or given to employees. 100% of the shares are owned by the Trust.

That also means that every employee effectively has the same stake in the company - those high up in management, for example, don't have a lop-sided number of shares compared to those on the (both literal and metaphorical) shop floor.

JL employees also elect colleagues to hold the management to account, and appoint people to the Board and Trust. How many "traditional employers" allow that to happen?

Re: Thanks for the Bonus, I Quit

#656

Post by einpoklum »

emodendroket wrote: post #510
einpoklum wrote: post #427

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, why don't you consult them? First set aside the amount of money you were thinking of paying. Now think of some options, e.g.: * Paying the bonus. * Improving office amenities. * Buying each employee an expensive present. * Funding a family vacation for each employee. * Making a sizable donation to a worthy cause (collectively or for each employee). * etc. Then have a meeting with them, and ask them which they w…

I can practically guarantee they are going to want the cash.

(shrugs) Well, that's legitimate. In a different company it may be different. But this is not the point.

The point is that:

1. They get to to be involved in making the decision, and

2. This kind of a process will create a clear distinction, in their consciousness, between the bonus money and their salary - since the process for obtaining the bonus money is different and special.

Re: Thanks for the Bonus, I Quit

#657

Post by einpoklum »

Viliam1234 wrote: post #629
emodendroket wrote: post #510

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can practically guarantee they are going to want the cash.

Yeah, seems like a straightforward choice. > Paying the bonus. Gimme, gimme! > Improving office amenities. Not bad, but... it would depend on how much money we are talking about, and what office amenities it would buy. For example, once I got a new $1000 office chair that felt less comfortable than the old cheap one -- I definitely would have preferred the cash. On the other hand, once I had to work with a barely fun…

"I can do it myself", "I don't need you" etc. - you're being slightly misanthropic here. Why are you assuming GP's employees don't want to do anything together?

Even about office amenities - you're assuming it's several units of something personal. Maybe it's setting up a recreation room, that everyone can use? Maybe people want to install a skylight for their workspace, or set up some indoor plants with water drips and stuff?

Re: Thanks for the Bonus, I Quit

#658

Post by Lev1a »

Thorrez wrote: post #632
Lev1a wrote: post #454

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They've already made more money than they or their descendants (probably for generations) will ever need and are very likely also getting capital gains on that wealth through one way or another. The $1 salary is just posturing.

I wasn't saying whether it was moral or immoral or good or bad. I was just giving an example. I'm curious, would you say it is better for them to have a $1 salary, a $100k salary, or a $100M salary?

It would be nice first of all for them not to be tax dodging assholes, who like in the case of ActiBlizz not only didn't pay tax to the US but also manipulated the tax system to get tax credits to the tune of hundreds of millions of Dollars in just a single year¹ while also kicking out hundreds of their employees for short term gain.

And if their companies already use the tax system as nothing other than toilet paper, why would one assume they as private persons would do anything different?

¹: https://www.fanbyte.com/news/americans-paid-activision-blizz...

Re: Thanks for the Bonus, I Quit

#659

Post by emrah »

I once worked at a company that paid bonuses based on a portion of profits, appropriately named "profit sharing". As long as the company turned a profit in a quarter everyone got extra money. Company financials were shared with everyone each quarter (even though the company wasn't public) and the percentage was calculated based on a specific formula (details of which I don't remember but included years of service, title etc) so everything was pretty straightforward.

It's definitely possible to make bonuses work via profit sharing (even for private companies) as long as the company is not trying to cheat its employees.

Re: Thanks for the Bonus, I Quit

#660

Post by emodendroket »

bsder wrote: post #651
emodendroket wrote: post #649

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Someone who is panhandling wants money and they get very angry when you interrupt that process. At least in the US, the panhandlers tend not to be the genuinely homeless--they mostly tend to be scummy people. It's a semi-regular news occurrence for someone to follow a panhandler with a camera to find out they really aren't homeless. My belief is that this is a very small percentage of beggars and the videos are so…

Maybe it's different for where you are, but I used to see several beggars park their car and unpack before lunch and repack and drive away once past dinner. One would bring a woman and 2 children to help panhandle. These aren't the exceptions--they're the norm. Should we be helping these people? Yes. Is panhandling money really helping these people? Not really.

Is their having a car meant to be proof they aren't homeless? And I would encounter several panhandlers just on a short walk to work in Boston; should this one anecdote from an unknown place be enough to completely change my perspective?

This article tries to find some numbers and should probably cast doubt on the rich beggar narrative: https://invisiblepeople.tv/how-much-do-panhandlers-actually-...

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