"Employee of the Month"

[thebennyboy]

Do you believe "Employee of the Month" schemes really boost employee morale? A work colleague (and a close friend) of mine has apparently been given it this month, even though he admits he just "f's around" in his own words.

He gets on particularly well with the Business Manager of the store, along with basically everyone else who was given that title. "Brown-Nosed" with the Business Manager would be a good term. While some did actually deserve it, a lot imo didn't. I will still congratulate him for it but i really don't believe he got it for the right reasons, i have told him this.

Not really sure how to react as it is getting to me and lower my morale considerably, not because i've never had it but because of him giving it to people he likes. I don't get on particularly well with him as i've has a dispute with one of his right-hand managers before over her treatment of certain employees (for which she got sacked for).

 

[Hotwired]

If the people giving them out do it in a way that employees can respect then they have value.

But if the manager does it with little connection to workplace reality then employees will mock it and its a waste of everything.

 

[Steampunk]

True. If the whole concept is devalued, then it will become meaningless. If the whole team sees it as something honest and worthy, then the employee of the month will be congratulated for doing a good job, and the title will be something to aspire to. If it's just given to the person who has sucked up the most to the boss, then it will be something that is mocked.

 

[Randomface74]

If you're a good employee and not paid well, the gold star is insulting.

 

[hornetstinger]

Unless the eotm gets bonus like £200 who gives a monkeys

 

[HangTime]

A previous employer had a quarterly award that carried a £250 bonus, bottle of Champagne and a branded pen or some nonsense. I won it once but I was very poorly paid. It gave a small lift to morale in the sense that at least someone in a position of authority had acknowledged my contributions, but that didn't translate into better career prospects.

I think it has the potential to backfire when people think the winners are undeserving.

 

[Caged]

It's insulting in any professional setting because it's a scheme that isn't flexible enough to cope when more than one person is exceptional that month. Just have a decent bonus pot and don't treat people like they're at school.

 

[Ayahuasca]

Haven't worked anywhere where I've seen it work well, there's far too many variables in roles in most businesses. You can have extremely driven and hard workers who get on with their job but aren't known by many in the company and then you can have those that appear to be here, there and everywhere, spend a lot of their days being overly friendly as they want to be pally with everyone and these are the types who regularly end up winning as from what I've seen, it's more of a popularity contest.

 

[Yaayuh!]

We have such a system whereby people are given "awards" (BS certificate thing) each month for "Going beyond the call of duty"/"Going over and above" or as I like to say "being a sucker".

Basically, a way for the company to give back something (nothing) and to recognise those who work more for nothing.

However, I've received quite a few just for doing my job... It makes no sense.

 

[Rifte]

I use to consult in the UK for retailers including some of the largest and THE largest one in the UK.

Most of them had some variant of this, and it was usually measured to take away personal opinion within the management team. It could be based on customer feedback (you know, those surveys on the bottom of receipts the cashiers ask you to complete), attendance or specific sales records.

Some of the employees loved it, and it did motivate them, and others......well they hated having the attention and would sooner blend in rather than stand out. Personally for me, the whole idea of standing in a team huddle and having my colleagues clap and cheer for me wanted me to puke, so thank god I never had to be a part of it.

 

[Narj]

An old employer of mine did a quarterly thing that I won. I think it was something like £500 and a plaque thingy. I'd worked my nuts off to get a project completed by the deadline so it was appreciated if a bit cringeworthy.

 

[dowie]

I think the monthly thing would be a bit overkill in a lot of workplaces - perhaps suitable for retail/restaurants etc.. with large numbers of full and part time staff being managed by the same manager - pretty naff unless there is some financial reward to go with it

I do think the principle of recognising good work and calling it out does kind of work in general... it is pretty efficient/cheap for management to do too (just like ordering pizzas when the team is working late close to a deadline etc..). If the person is clearly recognised as having made a significant contribution or is perhaps the go to guy who rescued that bit of a project etc.. then it can definitely work. It is probably a bit cheesy to just dish out some vouchers or small cash prize in a professional environment though - but one example is say publicly thanking someone in a main team meeting and handing over a letter basically telling them to take the wife out to whatever restaurant they like this weekend and expense it all to the company can certainly work - that happened to my mate who was called late one evening to help out another team, then ended up going in on a Saturday too to help them further (he'd also assisted them at various points earlier in the year)... obviously he got his day in lieu for the Saturday but since he was recognised as saving all their asses he got the permission to expense a bunch of stuff too and racked up nearly a grand in expenses taking his wife out the following Saturday.

It shouldn't be a substitute though for proper pay rises/bonuses at the end of each year, more just a moral/retention thing to let people know that their contribution has been seen and is valued.

 

[Screeeech]

I think it all comes down to how it's measured, about 10 years ago I worked for a company who basically dished out the employee of the month award for whoever did the most "low hanging fruit" by just closing thousands of 2 minute tickets, as opposed to people who worked into the evening trying to solve difficult issues - who got nothing at all,

If these things aren't measured properly and are fair, it can lead to a lot of sour grapes and upset people,

 

[Caged]

I think it all comes down to how it's measured, about 10 years ago I worked for a company who basically dished out the employee of the month award for whoever did the most "low hanging fruit" by just closing thousands of 2 minute tickets, as opposed to people who worked into the evening trying to solve difficult issues - who got nothing at all,

If these things aren't measured properly and are fair, it can lead to a lot of sour grapes and upset people,

I think they're a great tool for managers who would be out of their depth if asked to asses the contributions of each of their team members. Yes that is a dig at ineffective middle management.

 

[dowie]

I think they're a great tool for managers who would be out of their depth if asked to asses the contributions of each of their team members. Yes that is a dig at ineffective middle management.

surely they'd be a rather poor tool for those sorts of managers - being able to asses contributions of individual team members would be fundamental to something like this working properly, especially if you're having to select someone every month - without that then the whole thing would be rather farcical

 

[Caged]

That was sarcasm.

 

[Steampunk]

I think nowadays things like "Employee Of The Month" are just seen as a cheap sop to avoid paying people properly.

 

[Energize]

Employee of the month schemes are a joke and tend to cause workplace issues.

 

[Ayahuasca]

I think nowadays things like "Employee Of The Month" are just seen as a cheap sop to avoid paying people properly.

How does this work then? I don't agree with the schemes in the forms I've seen them implemented but I can't see how they're used to avoid paying people properly.

 

[Steampunk]

How does this work then? I don't agree with the schemes in the forms I've seen them implemented but I can't see how they're used to avoid paying people properly.

You try and rev up the workforce, keep them motivated and focussed - as long as it doesn't cost extra wages. How many stories have we had on these forums where companies suddenly find money for pay rises when someone hands in their notice? But until then, the company can't afford to pay you more.

I had an interesting chat with a guy that ran a teambuilding company and he said "you don't get asked back again if you recommend that companies pay their people more money to keep them happy". No, you pay to take them away and run around playing games in Wales so everyone gets "connected" and somehow that makes everyone a happy employee when they get back to the office/shop/factory.

Employee of the month is just a simple and cheap way of motivating staff - often in the absence of sorting out endemic issues (pay, management, advancement, etc). There's anecdotal evidence in this thread of how it is perceived, abused, or misused.