What not to say to your employees
After much anticipation, bonuses were finally announced this week. With all the press my company was receiving in the media about how the "big bonus" was back, my colleagues and I were reasonably optimistic about our compensation. Unfortunately, we were sorely disappointed.
After presenting me with my compensation, my manager looked at my sad, sad face and said, "You don't look very happy." Now, anyone who knows me knows that I'm not one to hide my emotions. If I'm mad at you, you'll know. If I'm sad, you'll know. I'm not one to keep a person guessing. So, of course, my response to my manager was, "Well, I'm not."
After further discussion, my genius manager then made the following insightful comment: "Wow, I hope I didn't just unmotivate you with this." And if I thought that this review couldn't get any worse, he then went on to ask me how old I was. After some slight hesitation, I told him my age and he responded with, "Well, this is pretty good for a 26-year-old!" I'm sorry, but was that supposed to be motivating?
That night, my disappointment quickly turned into anger and resentment as I kept hearing "I hope I didn't unmotivate you" and "this is good for a 26-year-old!" over and over again in my head. If he hadn't unmotivated me from not compensating me well, he definitely managed to do so with his dumb-ass remarks during my review.
Never before had I felt more lied to by my senior management. I'm a rather naive and trusting person, but I could clearly see through all the BS reasons my manager gave behind the compensation decisions. And as a result of the unmotivating spiel that my manager delivered in hopes of keeping me productive, I have renewed energy to post on my blog, which helps me kill time during the day while remaining minimally productive.
After presenting me with my compensation, my manager looked at my sad, sad face and said, "You don't look very happy." Now, anyone who knows me knows that I'm not one to hide my emotions. If I'm mad at you, you'll know. If I'm sad, you'll know. I'm not one to keep a person guessing. So, of course, my response to my manager was, "Well, I'm not."
After further discussion, my genius manager then made the following insightful comment: "Wow, I hope I didn't just unmotivate you with this." And if I thought that this review couldn't get any worse, he then went on to ask me how old I was. After some slight hesitation, I told him my age and he responded with, "Well, this is pretty good for a 26-year-old!" I'm sorry, but was that supposed to be motivating?
That night, my disappointment quickly turned into anger and resentment as I kept hearing "I hope I didn't unmotivate you" and "this is good for a 26-year-old!" over and over again in my head. If he hadn't unmotivated me from not compensating me well, he definitely managed to do so with his dumb-ass remarks during my review.
Never before had I felt more lied to by my senior management. I'm a rather naive and trusting person, but I could clearly see through all the BS reasons my manager gave behind the compensation decisions. And as a result of the unmotivating spiel that my manager delivered in hopes of keeping me productive, I have renewed energy to post on my blog, which helps me kill time during the day while remaining minimally productive.
posted by danielle at 5:26 PM
2 Comments:
keep those posts coming! nothing like getting paid to surf the internet. consider yourself a "freelance" writer. but be careful what you say...big brother's watching.
one year at my old auditing job, our bonuses were poinsettias. yeah, we got plants. i was pissed. granted we were a small business, but the year before i got there, they got $50 gift certificates at the mall or something.
did you ever see the episode of NewsRadio, where the plot was centered around bonuses? everyone would get an equal bonus of a few hundred dollars. however, one would $3K, called "The Big Bonus". and one person would get $0, called "The Shaft". it's hilarious, i have it on dvd.
yay! more posting! I do second francis' warning - working at a law firm i've discovered they really do track everything.
i am glad that you gave your honest opinion about the bouns. working at a nonprofit, i was never happy with my salary, bonues, etc., and always expressed it. howver, at least it was out in the open, and everyone tried their best to compensate for it. the difference is that i knew that there was no bs behind the meager salary/bonus, and people were trying their best to look out for me. i just wished i made more...
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