They started one here at my job. They sort of had one before but it did not seem to recognize all employees, just the ones that were the closest to the “guy in the corner office.”
So now they have started a division wide one, which is great. Two months ago they announced it via email with an outline of the program and the link to more information on our company intranet site.
So off I go to check it out and it has all the people getting recognition starting in January of 2007. I was surprised that the did not start “counting” when they started the program but they took it back to the beginning of the year. It also shows the length they have worked here.
There is my name in lights, SomeUserName, 15 years of service. Yay! I am finally getting some recognition for the hard work I have put in.
As of today, I still have no recognition packet
Why do they build you up just to make you wait for months? I want my recognition damn it .
What are you being recognized for? Length of service? Some employment accomplishment or acheivement? What comes in the recognition packet?
I’m not aware of any programs at my workplace that recognizes people on an individual basis. I just passed my one-year mark as a regular employee (I was temp-to-hire for a few months before being brought on) and there was no acknowledgment of it anywhere that I could see. My boss (who I just started with a few weeks ago) didn’t even know.
OTOH, we recently became a publicly traded company and everyone who was an employee as of the date we went public is being recognized as a “Founder” (bring me a Vorta now, dammit!) and we all got a couple thousand dollars deposited in a company stock retirement account at 100% vesting.
It is in increments for five, ten, fifteen etc. From what I read I get a certificate and I get to pick a gift I just have not gotten anything yet.
They also have a Note of Excellence awards that is basically an employee driven program. Employees nominate other employees for going above and beyond the call of duty. The nomination post cards are thrown a bin and so many people are picked out every month.
I won $50 for that once and it took a month to get my moola.
For length of service. I heard not a peep when I got my year, five year, ten year or fifteenth year from anyone, not even my boss.
They announced this new program in September and I had my fifteen in June so I did not think I made the cut but then I saw they took it from the beginning of the year.
These are what my company does as well. Additionally, for each anniversary between the 5/10/15 years, my department does a gift certificate and card. It’s nice.
eta: I got a nice sapphire ring for my 10-year service award.
This is the first year they have done it as a division wide thing. They left it up to the head of the division before to do anything about a service anniversary and as I said if the “man” didn’t associate with you then you get nothing.
The employee recognition program was my responsibility in my last job. I was ambivalent about it, but my lack of enthusiasm didn’t matter – somebody had to do it.
What bugged me was that longevity was the only criteria. The 15-year-employee with a good attitude and a spotless record received the same award as the 15-year employee with a lousy attitude and a file full of warnings.
But it was nice to do something to recognize good employees, even if the bad ones were also rewarded.
We did $50 gift certificates for each five-years of service. There was also a bonus program, but that applied only to the CEO’s pets.
Our command has recently added a Knight’s Cup award - a symbolic chalice for doing super-good stuff. It’s a pretty cheezy symbol - it’s a plastic cup with a chess knight and some other crap on it. I saw a photo from the last awards ceremony - most of the recipients looked sincerely embarrassed to be receiving it.
I don’t know which rocket surgeon decided that it was an appropriate way to raise employee morale. Nearly everyone I’ve talked to about it thinks it’s hokey, to put it diplomatically. A year or so ago, I got a really nice cash award, but they don’t do cash any longer. My challenge now is to do just well enough not to have to accept the stupid plastic cup. Retirement: January 2010.
I selected a messenger-style bag for five years, but never bothered to choose a ten-year gift. I got a card last week for my fifteen-year anniversary; they haven’t given me the catalog yet.
They also give out quarterly Outstanding Performance Awards, with stylish glass trophies. I won one at the end of 1999, so I call it my Employee of the Millennium Award. I’ve been coasting ever since.
We use to get all kinds of stuff from my employer and the customers buying the airplanes. IRS changes about 10 years ago put the kibosh on the free goodies. Now we are awarded points we can use at the company gift shop or turn them in for gift cards from a wide variety of places. We also get stuff for years of service, my next one is in 2 years when I hit 25 years of service, I will get a leather jacket and a free lunch. Oh, and I can’t forget the tier 1 parking pass, I will get to park about a quarter mile closer to where I work.
Man, my mom’s company gets the good recognition awards. At 10 years, a free flight anywhere in the country. At 15, I think anywhere in the world. At 20, a cruise.
Why yes, she did waste the 15 year one going to BC. Freaking British Columbia. When she could have gone to London or something.
I am with Scott Adams on this, employee recognition programs are the cheapest method available to employers to lower staff morale, except for one person, on a regular basis.
We had a classic example where I work. A guy kept sending out an Excel spreadsheet that was meant to simplify calculations for assessors. Every time he sent it out it was wrong. One of my staff rectified the error each time (even though it wasn’t his job) and the Bozo would retract the dud and issue the new one. This went on for months and was a standing joke in our unit - as soon as he issued anything Glen would check it and find all the errors.
However when the employee “Excellence Awards” were decided Glen, who I had nominated, lost out to Bozo who, if not corrected by Glen, could have cost us millions in revenue.
I never nominated anyone again and both times I was nominated failed to turn up to the ceremony, even when I won, and am now banned from being nominated.
We have the same kinda deal where I work - we get a catalog and get to pick out “presents” for our major anniversaries - I think they’re 10, 15, 20, etc. When one of us hits a major date, we divvy up the items in the catalog and google them to see which is worth the most. We’ve since determined that our company is cheap.
Seems to me we’d be better off in the morale department if they’d stop outsourcing us and laying us off, but hey - I’m not management - what do I know?
