When a Work Reward Is Totally Unrewarding

Reader Comments
Back to blog

I started as a mere mechanical drafter here. There was a degreed engineer acting as my supervisor. I started appx 2 yrs after the shop supervisor for the shop personnel.
Today, 14 years later, I am the only person doing any engineering or drafting or checking as the engineer resigned, I have taken over the entire department. I also perform the duties for the offices abroad, which may not be a consistent workload (and there are plenty of brown nosers to influence the owner to believe there is nothing to it thus no increased value) But I am alone, doing everything from concept design, to final issuance of drawings for production. They heard I was good with computers, and now I maintain the network and hardware/software infrastructure, Just like those IT people do!! And yes, all for free. I also am now the company intellectual property agent, for this company and 3 other companies 2 of which are owned by the co-owner of this company. So I essentially work for 4 other companies allll under the "guise" of "helping out".
It has been this way for six years now, and I still only earn the Median Range salary according to the BLS for Mechanical drafting alone.
Today I was asked to help the owner print out the landscaping design the owner had performed at his personal house, so he could spend the rest of the week changing it to suit his fiscal desires. Ive been out to his house several times to fix his personal computers. I also act as Mgmt representative for quality, dealing with outside quality audits, and our ISO conformance.
Thing is, none of this stuff is hard for me, and Ive done it to the point that recognition of it is passe'. "Why should I pay brain surgeon rates for skinning a fish" is the attitude I get because a fair and honest accounting of my value to this company in all areas would undeniably require an increase or incentive.
And this does not suit the owners cheap fiscal policy, well, to everything except the eight cars he owns and the 30thousand dollar landscaping job he is currently revising for his house. (While the rest of us "work")
This not only has destroyed my desire to continue in this profession, but has also ruined my attitude towards people and business owners. I deal with teams of degreed engineers from India and other areas that are so completely inept, that the million dollar projects would have failed completely had I not been strictly attentive to detail and defining and verifying pertinent design details.
This business owner is completely out of his mind. No performance reviews for anyone, ever, (Because he cant think of an excuse to be cheap towards everyone at the rate it would require), so earnings stay stagnant, he gets vastly more wealthy, and exploits his skilled employees with personal during office hours, when a contractor would have cost a lot more.
This is a nightmare, thats all I can say. I am struggling to survive, and sitting here eating peanut butter and jelly, thinking about how i can fix my car

Oncewasalight of TX 2:05PM September 30, 2010

I know that under the best of circumstances it's not easy to know how to handle employee relations. Most of my husband's jobs have either handled it beautifully, or it's been an issue of benign clumsiness.
His current job has been a nightmare. Their performance reviews and pay increases are based not only on meeting personal goals, but on departmental goals. For 8 years my husband has been told "you exceeded expectations in every area, but the department missed it's goals, so you get a 3 (scale of 1-5, 5 being top rating). You don't qualify for a 4 or 5 unless personal and departmental goals are exceeded.
What's worse, is there was a period where a team he interfaced with was down a man following a reorganization. This team could not keep up with the workload, and it prevented him from getting his own work done. Since his own position had become rather dead end due to some excellent work on his part, he thought he could pitch in on this other team, it would be a win/win/win. Company gets some help, team gets some relief, husband's work isn't caught in the other team's log jam, and he broadens his job skills.
He quickly became the team SME for this team, saving them a full time employee. However after a year and a half and three reviews and the same "gee, you did GREAT but the department did poorly" and no official mention of his taking on an additional full time role for no additional compensation (an on-call role at that) we finally said no more freebies. We wanted our life back. The manager for the other team was extremely grateful, and he and the team members begged for my husband back (and tried to hire him for the team, but his primary manager wouldn't release him). It was hard to say no, but what sane person will do a second full time job for free?
The irony is, they had to replace my husband not long after he un-volunteered.
We would have been happy with something on his official review, and perhaps a small reward of some sort. A raise reflective of his extraordinary effort would have been nice.
Instead they are now paying salary, benefits and pension contributions to the tune of nearly $200,000 a year.
Am I the only person that thinks this is, how shall I put this, short sighted?
Thankfully his job was outsourced overseas, which allowed the other team to snap him up. How much goodwill and faith do you think we have in his employer though?
It never ceases to amaze me that employers dot every i and cross every t when it comes to protecting their rights, but are shocked, shocked I tell you, when employees treat them the way they treat their employees.
Quid pro quo.

Crystal of WA 3:55AM August 19, 2009

In order for a safety incentive program to be perceived as a worthwhile endeavor by participants, I put together a list of tips that will make your safety efforts perceived as rewarding to your participants. By taking these tips into consideration, you can ensure the long term success of your safety award program and effectively reduce your workplace injury and illness rates.
http://www.awardsnetwork.com/blog/2009/05/top-ten-tips-to-ensure-your-sa.html

Amy Trueblood of IN 3:11PM May 18, 2009

The day after a Medicare inspection of our surgical center found us passing with flying colors, thanks largely to my extra efforts, I found this short note from my boss on my desk. It was worth more to me than any monetary reward (short of a huge raise) and I still treasure it more than 10 years later. Do you think it motivated me to work even harder? You bet!
Dear Kathleen,
Thank you, thank you, thank you for all your brilliant hard work in behalf of [company]. You really knocked the socks off those Medicare inspectors. Keet it up and let me know how I can help. You're a great team leader. Sincerely, [boss]

Kathy M of UT 11:05AM January 13, 2009

I disagree with just being told that I'm doing a good job over some cold hard cash. If I'm doing such a good job and I'm valuable to the company, show me by giving me a bonus or some time off. I'm not a kid anymore where I need you to stroke my ego by telling me in front of my peers how great a job I did. That might work for someone else but it does nothing for me.

Mac of GA 3:08PM January 12, 2009

One of the main problems here is the over emphasis on reward over recognition. Another main problem is the use of cash as the reward mechanism. Cash is the appropriate currency for compensation -- pay. When employees go exceptionally above and beyond to save the company many thousands, an argument can be made for a significant cash reward. But the flip side of the argument is -- when is enough enough? Using cash as the currency for reward or recognition generally fails because people come to expect it, become habituated to cash no matter how much you give them. An August 2008 study (http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/20/opinion/20ariely.html?_r=1&ref=opinion) recently highlighted in the New York Times found that in eight of nine tasks, the promise of a bigger bonus actually significantly decreased people’s performance.
Multiple studies have proven that simple recognition delivers better results than cash. A Japanese National Institute for Physiological Sciences study found “paying people a compliment appears to activate the same reward center in the brain as paying them cash.” White Water Strategies found acknowledging staff achievements – praising employees – had the same impact on job satisfaction as a one percent increase in pay. These 2008 studies reinforced research results from a 2004 University of Chicago study that found non-cash incentives were 24 percent more powerful in boosting performance than cash incentives.
The small amount of rewards is also critical as it allows for more frequent recognition. Frequent recognition of small amounts does far more good in boosting morale, and reinforcing desired actions than a yearly bonus. Taking this a step further, if each recognition is specifically tied to a company value demonstrated or strategic objective achieved (or contributed to), company leaders can begin to track which values and objectives are less understood by every employee and how those values and objectives apply to his or her specific job. Executives can use the recognition program as lagging indicators to target these areas of low recognition for additional training or reinforcement.
For those who are interested, I blog more on the problems with cash as a tool for recognition here: http://globoforce.blogspot.com/search/label/cash%20vs%20non-cash%20rewards

Derek Irvine, Globoforce of MA 6:08PM January 09, 2009

Back when I worked for WordPerfect, one of the guys in the shipping department figured out how to save the company $25K/month in shipping. He figured out how by making one small change in their process, they could get a HUGE discount from their shipping partner. He took his idea to managementment who promptly implemented it.
They gave the guy two gift certificates for dinner at a local restaurant. The story became legendary.
The danger of "under" rewarding employees is you run the risk of creating the opposite of what you're trying to do. I have no idea what effect this episode had on the employee, but those of us in the rest of the company came away thinking our company was a total cheapskate.

Rodney Bliss of UT 12:33AM January 09, 2009

I wonder how well a gift certificate would have "motivated" the CEO's during the recently passed "Republican heyday".
Dang right it's an insult. Time for culture change on this, right along with the Obama revolution on dozens of others.

of 11:52AM January 08, 2009