Conference 7.286::digital

    Really all three are related.  You know your manager is sincere
    in his praise if you get a good raise (meaning that others in the
    department get less) and if you get, e.g., to go to DECUS, meaning
    someone else in the department doesn't go.  Also, going to DECUS
    gets you lots of praise from your peers, since customers send people
    just like you to DECUS and they are always glad to boost the egos
    of Digital employees (I speak from personal experience).
    
    My priorities are, first, recognition; second, goodies; third, money.
    Best, of course, would be all three.
        John Sauter

    From my experience (both personal & my former peer group), the field
    (at least sws where I was) was very lax about rewards for a one-time
    super-human effort.  To get 2 or 3 of your goodies, that super-human
    effort would have to be expended at a continuous output rate.
    
    There was a single solitary time when a reward was given me for
    a time when several of us worked (literally) *all* weekend to get
    a benchmark completed, using DBMS which none of us knew anything
    about.  I had been scheduled to attend a 2-week training class at
    the University of DEC (Bedford) a few weeks later.  My manager said
    that he appreciated the benchmark effort, and changed the location
    of my course from Bedford to Los Angeles.
    
    Some may think "6 of one, half dozen of the other", but from my
    own perspective, at least it was recognition, and I knew the manager
    realized the effort & commitment to get the job done.
    
    Jon

    #1 is defined in impossible terms. A manager cannot automatically
    grant a 25% increase. That or any special increase outside of the
    ordinary must be explained very carefully and justified up through
    channels where it will be pushed on, probed, questioned and discouraged
    unless there are very, very compelling reasons for granting it.
    Thus, to accomplish a MAJOR increase your manager would have to
    give you a lot of publicity up the chain...

	How about a choice?  Why not lay out various optional rewards which
    the good performer could then choose from.  I am currently trying to
    save money to buy a house and get out of my renter-rut, so I would opt
    for money over trips, recognition, etc.  But, I think that maybe later
    in my career (after I already have my 50 acre estate - ar ar!), I may be
    more interested in traveling, and fame/recognition.

							-davo

    Recognition
    
    Money
    
    Goodies
    
    The exception to that is if I get to choose my *OWN* goodies.  For
    example, one  trip to DECworld is worth 10, no 20, free resort weekends
    to me.  If we could consider the things that are important to ME as
    goodies, then that category becomes number 2 and money is number 3. 
    
    					(^:	Positive Pat	:^)

    Another reward for superhuman results is stock options.
    That's one thing the company can do that causes its people
    to be concerned about the _company's_ health, and continue
    to work hard.
    
    That may not be forthcoming after running one benchmark,
    but if you put together 3 or 4 such superhuman efforts then
    your boss would be a damfool not to try to get you some.
    
    Which would you New Englanders prefer:  10% increase, or
    100 shares (@ $50/share anytime you want to buy), DECUS in
    Australia, DECville in France, color GPX for your office,
    or a (Bahamas) resort week in January?
    
      John

     I would opt for
     
     1. Money!
     
     2. Goodies (especially stock options)
     
     3. Recognition (actually, you get this with 1. or 2. above)
     
     To give  someone  a  larger  than planned for raise, or to recommend
     someone for stock  options  requires  a  write-up  of justification.
     These proposals are then  picked  apart  by higher management before
     being approved or rejected.   Thus,  you get the recognition anyway!
     [Many Mgrs will NOT put people in for unplanned increases (I realize
     that it is very difficult to do  under  the  current guidelines!) or
     stock  options,  because they are skittish about having  to  justify
     their positions in front of Group Managers, etc.]
     

                I'm not sure what order to put my priorities in, having 
        just recieved a dose of all three, but one thing I AM sure of, 
        they all felt good!!! 
                
                One other thing I'm also quite sure of. It takes a GOOD 
        (in quality, not just a "good guy") manager to make ANY of 
        them happen!! (I've been on both sides, unjustly screwed by a 
        poor manager [who will remain forever nameless], and justly 
        rewarded by a good one.)
                
                As I have thought about it while writing this (it has 
        taken longer than the few lines would seem to indicate) I think 
        I would break it down this way.
                
                For a long term "extra effort" (i.e. being GOOD at what 
        you do) the salary increase seems appropriate.
                
                For a short term "special effort" (i.e. the solving of a 
        particularly difficult problem) then the extra recognition and 
        maybe a small goody would seem appropriate.
                
                For that short term "extra effort" (i.e. those long 
        "unpaid" hours on a project) then a goody such as a trip would 
        seem appropriate. (In some companies a one time cash bonus would 
        fit here.)

                It is also obvious that these three conditions are 
        difficult to establish independently!�
                
                /s/     Bob

        Well, the money never seems to increase by anything significant,
        so I wouldn't hold my breath for that. 
        
        Decus is work! Every Decus I go to leaves me absolutely drained.
        I tend to be the get it done person.
        
        I am in too small a group to have "excellence award" junkets.
        
        A GPX on my desk is a required tool, not an award for acheivement.
        (I just need to beat this point into my bosses head a bit more.)
        
        Recognition? Personally, I hate to be patronized and that is
        the form that most recognition ends up around here.
        
        Bah!  Humbug!  Sigh....
        
        q
        

    re: .7--DECUS in Australia!  Like .10 I find DECUS a lot of work,
    but the chance to see Australia would make it worth the effort.
    Even when DECUS is at home I enjoy it, in spite of the very intense
    effort required over a week.  (My feet were bleeding after a week
    in Los Angeles.  I'll never wear new shoes to DECUS again.)
        John Sauter

	That's an easy one - my reward of choice for extra performance
would be time off - either a one-time bonus for a one-time effort, or
an uptick in vacation accrual rate for more sustained afterburning...