How do you like to be shown appreciation at work?
If you were to go above and beyond to meet some goal what would you consider appropriate recognition?
For me, just verbal recognition is sufficient. I get a little insulted when someone tries to add a low monetary component to it.
Say you worked a weekend, and you were given a $50 gift card. Now you have put a price on the effort, and $50 for a weekend of effort is down right insulting.
If one were to put a monetary component to it, it should be at the scale of the effort.
Maybe I’m oversimplifying, but in my experience the most effective reward for extra work is extra time. If somebody that works for me has to work a weekend to hit some objective, I thank them and tell them to take 2 days off the following week.
A parallel comment mentioned burnout, and I think this is the only viable way to enable above-and-beyond surges while minimizing burnout risk: as a business, you have to decide that a surge doesn’t mean you’re getting extra time from people, you’re borrowing time forward against future days.
Extra PTO with a decent ratio. Worked a full weekend because it had to be done and you stepped up? Get 3 days of PTO extra. Or the equivalent bonus if you don’t like being at home. That and being flexible when a person wants something.
Your best engineer has been working on a 21in TN monitor for 3 years and wants a new ultra wide? Don’t make it a pain in the ass, just give it to them. Sometimes managers will approve 3k for a meeting room tv that gets used once a week (why do you need a 4k HDR display for teams?) but will act like it’s impossible to approve a $250 item for a person that will recover that with their extra output.
There is no one rule, read how the people feel and try to keep them content.
Yes, I agree, if it's cash or some sort of monetary component, it should be relatively significant. I'm a big fan of thanking people for their efforts and then telling them to take a day or two off after they've put in an extra effort
I prefer just a verbal "thank you".
Small monetary bonuses don't impact me one way or another -- I am paid well enough that $50 isn't a thing I find compelling. But I don't find it insulting at all, either -- just largely meaningless.
I HATE gift cards, though. If you're giving me money, give me money and don't force me to spend it in a particular way or at a particular business. Whenever I get a gift card, I just pass it along to someone else who would make better use of it than I.
EDIT: After reading the other comments, extra PTO is something that I would value a great deal. I've just never experienced that and so didn't think of it.
The larger the effort/accomplishment, the larger the pizza party should be
My old boss and cofounder asked an interesting question. There are some projects that need an extra push. What if employees who earn stock could wager stock against their delivery of a hard-to-get-out feature? The company could set odds and employees could clean up with equity. If they fail to deliver, stock is returned. Interesting thought.
All I want for a coding job done well is for people to stfu the next
time I make a big change.
People get recognized where you work?
My company does all sorts of BS related to this. None of its really worth anything. It's movie tickets and gift cards mostly. Promotions, raises, and bonuses are the way to go. But that's rare.
I agree that recognition is what matters. Especially if it’s compounding. Let’s say I work a weekend, then I do it again a couple months later, then when promo time comes around this is explicitly called out.
The proverbial 'pat on the back' goes a long way, whether that's shown with financial rewards or other ways.
Well assuming I'm a wagie, how about some job security? :)
And on the flip side, why would i put effort if not for such a reward.
I wonder if praise for working weekends or long hours is tantamount to encouraging burnout.
Having input into higher level decisions.