Workplace Awards

[Phoenix84]

So, workplace awards.

Do they matter to you?

Have you ever received any? If so how do you feel about them?

Are they effective at boosting employee performance?

Discuss.

[Phoenix84]

I've never gotten an award in the workplace.

It doesn't bother me much, I don't need a gold star to tell me if I do a good job.

I work in a under appreciated field anyway. My paycheck and a happy boss are my award.

[movingforward]

Personally, they don't mean a thing to me. I would rather be appreciated with cold hard cash

[Abby Normal]

Sept 28, 2012 16:00:48 GMT -5 movingforward said:

Personally, they don't mean a thing to me. I would rather be appreciated with cold hard cash

[Tiny]

Gold stars and having a bunch of people acknowledge I did/do 'a good job' doesn't really motivate me.
I'm amazed I manage to use Weight Watchers successfully - it's mostly gold stars and rah rah. (Our meeting leader is really good and tailors her approach to the different types of people involved -- which has probably done more for my success than anything else - little or no rah rah atta girl here's a gold star stuff for me. )

We do get a awards for number of years of service at my job (I got flowers at 5, 10, and 15 years - which I was ambivelant about - I did dry the rose petals and pressed a few of the flowers and then used them decoratively around my house...each time I got flowers). I got a 10 year award where I got to chose a $25.00 'gift' from a catalog... I wasn't gonna bother but the HR people seemed really concerned when I didn't 'cash in my certificate' so I selected some geegaw and was done with it.

I do like the cash bonuses that come along - either as a lenght of service award (just stay employed long enough and you get some $$).

I always feel the award givers are insincere at some level... that's a big turn off for me.

[Cookies Galore]

I tend to get lunch recognition awards and I'm cool with that. I like food and I work near a bunch of awesome restaurants. Free lunch rules!

[Phoenix84]

well, I have gotten a couple of "performance awards" of like $500 or so.

But I didn't get a placque or public cerimony or anything. I don't even find out about it until I get an e-mail from HR saying "your SF-50 has been updated" I go and ask them what happened, and they say you got a performance award.

[northdakotanice]

I was twice nominated for an award at a previous job. My manager nominated me....She was terrible, and I basically did the bulk of her job for her. I didn't win either time, and I think I ended up resenting the company more because of it. I knew that I deserved the award more than the person that won, but I think my manager at the time wasn't able to appropriately convey my value in the nomination letter because it would have meant admitting that I was doing her job for her.

Like others have said, I'd appreciate a monetary bonus more than any kind of public recognition.

[Sum Dum Gai]

I got a bunch in the military. I still have the plaques and trophies and stuff... I think. I don't put them up anywhere, but I haven't thrown them out either. The only thing I liked about them is that they looked good on my EPR when it came time for promotions. All I cared about was getting the next stripe because it's the only thing that comes with more cash.

My company now gives spot bonuses. You might also get some recognition from your immediate supervisor in a team meeting or whatever, but mostly it's a "Hey good job on that last project, the customer was really happy, here's $500." I much prefer that to some stupid certificate, plaque, or trophy.

[Tennesseer]

I was in HR and attended a managing director's all operations management meeting. Each operations manager received a small trophy for something they accomplished during the past year. One manager, a jerk, had accomplished nothing of note. So the managing director awarded him a Horse's Ass award.

[Deleted]

When I got divorced, my self-esteem was at zero. I got Sales Star of the Month the first full month I was working, and it made me soar. I am still proud of the fact that I was Sales Star of the Month for our dept. 17/24 months.

When I changed retail jobs (Macy's closed), I manage to make The President's Club (100 or more Instant Credits) my first year even though I didn't start until March. There were only five other members in our store. The store had different levels of associates . . . sales associates, assistant sales associate, and senior sales associate. I made senior sales associate my first year and got a plaque, a pen, and an engraved business card holder, business cards, and stationary. Oh, and I got a small bonus plus two extra days off.

I have all that stuff saved in my filing cabinet. Maybe it's the self-esteem issue. Maybe it's because I am a teacher and we give out gold stars (not really but theoretically). I just know that I appreciate recognition.

I think most people do.

[svwashout]

Stock options are pretty popular around here. They're about retention, not performance. Received my grant letter an hour ago, wasn't expecting it so thinking about backing out of the employee stock plan.

[cronewitch]

I worked where you got employee of the month and mostly it was the same people over and over. I won a couple of time but once I should have gotten it because I was doing three people's work but they gave it to a student who was leaving to go back to college, she had done nothing special just summer help. I think it causes as much hard feeling as good ones. If we had that now I know two people who would get it every single month, they are both hard working experienced people that would be hard to replace. It would only work if they weren't allowed to win then it wouldn't mean anything.

[Deleted]

I've received 8 of these awards in 3 years at my company. You get a certificate and a pass to a web site where you can pick items. I usually go for the $100 Amex gift card.

I think the program has mixed results. Some teams hand them out like candy while other teams rarely give them. So now team member B feels slighted for not being recognized for the same thing team member A got a reward for.

I guess it is nice to get some recognition, but in the larger picture the award is equivalent to 1hr of my pay. So working an extra 8 hours uncompensated to earn 1 hr back in pay isn't an incentive to do it again in the future. The real recognition comes at review time.

[Deleted]

When i was a young employee, i would have really thought it was great. Now, i really dont' care one way or the other. I dont' think most people care. I guess it is nice that employers recognize but having been around the block i find that employers either give out the sense that they value their employees or not. And, if they dont', then these kinds of things actually accentuate the phoniness. And, if they do value employees, then these awards still don't mean all that much because people already feel appreciated.

[milee]

Kind of.

Surprise - I'm not terribly motivated by external factors, including what others think, awards, etc. However, being extremely competitive, knowing I did something better than everybody else is extremely motivating to me whether or not it came with an award.

It's ugly and probably should have been something disclosed on the deep, dark secrets thread, but being insanely competitive is something that has always been a big part of me. Took a while, but I've learned how to use it for good in my life and to use it in helpful ways while minimizing the harmful impacts. For example, I do most of my workouts in Boot Camp or Boxing type classes because I've found I push myself much harder if others around me are working hard (I don't care if that guy next to me is 10 years younger, a foot taller and recently discharged Naval Pilot - he is NOT going to run faster, hit the bag harder or do more pushups! See? Crazy.) On the other hand, sometimes I'll skip a solo long run because I'm bored, or something hurts or I just don't feel like it. But this type of craziness doesn't hurt anyone but myself and it doesn't make me respect that slower, younger Navy guy any less.

But I've always been like that at any job I've done. Whether it was working at fast food (I will be the fastest Whopper assembler ever!) or at consulting (I will find my clients more $millions than anyone else!) I was very competitive. It helped motivate me and kept me going when things were boring. Like on DH's other thread about boring contracts; I'd give myself a goal of finding at least 5 errors or ways I could improve the contract for my client and that would keep it interesting.

So no, the award itself would not be a motivator, but the personal knowledge that I did something in an outstanding way would be.

[Deleted]

I think it is a mixed bag. It has a potential downside as well. Those who don't get an award may feel slighted. And, we all know that alot of these kinds of things are simply popularity contests. I think it is a better approach to treat people as a valued "team".

[Phoenix84]

I agree shooby. No matter how fair management tries to be, and even if the reward is just a handshake and a $10 starbucks gift card, some people will think they got slighted and it creates drama and hard feelings.

Not to mention I don't feel management is capable of being totally fair and unbiased. As you said, it usually ends up being either a popularity contest, and the same people win over and over, or it ends up turning into a rotating award where everyone gets it "when the time is right" like if it's their birthday month or they're leaving the company.

[Deleted]

Pay, Bonus, Title & getting the company to pay for certifications are really more important in advancing your career.

When I was younger the recognition plaques, statues/paperweights, certificates seemed cool . . . but now I know better :-)
Can you tell that I recently spent a weekend throwing out plaques and glass award objects that have just been clutter forever? I even have a big gold ring that was an uber-award from one place. I think I'll see what the scrap value of the gold is since I haven't worked for that company in eons! Now that was a prestigious award and I really thought it was important at the time. I guess its along the lines of noone is going to feel sad that they didn't work enough when they die. In retrospect it was really silly stuff to think was important.