Does Your Employer Recognize You?

We have cards that customers or co workers can write on to name an employee they appreciate and they put it in a jar.
Sometimes that do drawings and stuff like that.
They used to have a wheel to spin and win something small like 5 minutes added to your break or a free apple… etc

And they have this thing on their fb page where they spotlight a certain employee each week or so.

I remember the first year I worked for the company I was gifted a thanksgiving meal for 4 just for being recognized.

I get recognized, annually, in December with a bonus but throughout the year, nothing.

Honestly, the only recognition I want is a decent raise and the ability to do my job in a way and place that works for me.

Those are baselines, obviously, but most people also need to receive regular acknowledgement and appreciation. It doesn’t have to be big or expensive or dramatic but it needs to be genuine. Being seen for their efforts makes a big difference to most people.

Not in a long time really.  When I worked for the government there was basically nothing except the once a year lunch for the whole staff (700 + people) which consisted of undercooked or overcooked burgers, chips and if lucky a soda (most of the time warm bottled water).  My direct supervisor used to give me random Starbucks gift cards out of her own pocket.  She was good to me. 

Although during Covid we got paid pretty dang good.  Lots of hazard pay. Bonus if you got the vaccine. But never had a raise in the whole time I was there.  So there's that.  

They used to take all the admin's out to lunch (50 or so of us) but that stopped when Covid happened and never started again. 

Where I work now, which has been 10 months, there hasn't really been anything other than a quarterly meeting which they provide breakfast/lunch.  My director and assistant director though are very supportive and always always saying I have learned this position very quick. (I say it takes a few years to learn it all.. there is so much).. they say I am way ahead of the game.  It's a school so funds are pretty limited.. 

Before we were bought out by a soulless Fortune 500 company, I received profit sharing and performance bonuses. We never had lunches catered or received swag.

After buyout, no profit sharing, no bonus, but lots of lunches and swag.

To me, there is no comparison. Give me profit sharing and bonuses, keep your pizza.

I think we have all seen enough facebook posts from teachers listing all the things they DON'T want to receive to be leery of giving any gifts to teachers. I always did small gift cards when ds was in elementary, but even those, Ive seen criticism of on facebook. 🤷🏼‍♀️

I think there should always be both. The tangible, financial recognition that the work you do benefits the larger team’s and company’s performance. But also the smaller, more personal and regular acknowledgements of you as a human, not just a cog in the machine. Wher genuine *appreciation* comes in and should be tailored to what you, as an individual, like. Things that show your manager sees and knows you and how you contribute- and not just productivity-wise, but holistically - to your team.

Not currently employed, but when I was...nope. In fact, they weren't allowed to give me the highest rating on performance reviews one year because I'd received it for the 2 previous years and it was tied to our (pitiful) salary increases. HR said that the highest increase had to go to someone else that year, so they couldn't even give me the highest review, even though the boss said I deserved it. (And yes, I confirmed that it was a real "thing" with an HR friend, so it wasn't just someone trying to let me down gently!)

It's been almost 18 years since I worked there and it still irritates me!

We do “Love” points which come with personal recognition with specific feedback which are pretty good. My boss also gives feedback in our regular 1:1s.
We also have “employee appreciation” week where they do free lunches, company jackets and other swag.
And our yearly bonus (5 figures) of which half is tied to your performance.

Our company does a lot for employee recognition, both individually and as a group. We have both Company-wide events along with department events. Our group always goes to a nice restaurant for our holiday luncheon. And since the boss lets us go home after lunch, we can drink. No drinking allowed if you go back to work. Company-wide, we get food on our annual bonus day in March. My immediate boss will give us stuff after she gets back from a long vacation overseas. And she also gives us candy during the holiday season. And employees get recognition at staff meetings.

When someone retires, they are allotted so much money to have a good-bye party. Some workers opt for a company-wide party, with drinks and small deserts in a big conference room. Others, will take just their immediate coworkers, and maybe a spouse, to lunch at a restaurant. They are also given a plaque for for their service with the company. I know that I will pick the smaller restaurant option instead of standing up front and greeting tons of people. Lol!

I work for Finance at a University, so it is limited. My supervisor and Director both give out annual holiday gifts (out of their own pocket I am sure) and our CFO tends to give us some University branded type of gift each year. For meetings with the CFO there has been frozen yogurt or other treats handed out. I see other non-finance departments really taking care of their employees but finance is always trying to improve the bottom line.

However, I work for an awesome team, and I appreciate THEM.

Bonuses and raises yes.

Day to day or smaller milestones, not so much. They are working to change that, but nothing specific yet.

We used to get a pizza party if our school did well on state tests.  Cracked me up.