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> Sadly, more often than not, at least in my experience, aforementioned execs take all that for granted and the secretary remains a secretary in terms of pay an

> Sadly, more often than not, at least in my experience, aforementioned execs take all that for granted and the secretary remains a secretary in terms of pay and appreciation. True story: A friend of mine is a broker to a guy who is/was a major real estatement developer. Billions of dollars of developments. The guy is a maniac too, he'd develop multiple sites in different ways at the same time and he had a pretty small staff. Just infinite amounts of work and energy. Immigrant parents, came up from nothing, developer was just a pretty amazing guy. My friend was one of the brokers he used. One year, secretary's day was coming around. Normally, the developer would give his secretary like a $200 gift certificate for Tiffany's or to a fancy restaurant or something like that. This year, he thought - you know, my secretary has been with me for 20 years, she's been amazing, I should do something really special for her. My friend was just about to trade his car in and get a new car, and so he sold it to the developer for a pretty good bargain - something like $12,000. It was a nice sports car, only a few years old. So he gave her the car, and she was thrilled, really really happy. Very grateful. After a couple weeks, the thrill wore off, and it was just business as normal, and she was still the very good secretary she had been for years and things were going well. Next year, secretary's day rolls around again, and he gives her... a $250 gift certificate for Tiffany's. Like every other year. And she was TICKED. Very upset. Her work quality suffered. She'd been very excited about what she was going to get, and then a slightly bigger than normal gift certificate was very upsetting. Long story short - many people have thought the same way as you and tried to rectify it, often with undesired results. Everyone in the world isn't necessarily stupid - if something is done almost everywhere a certain way, it might because that way works the best. When deviating from the normal way, things should be thought through carefully. I do agree that a top notch assistant is invaluable though, and often times underappreciated.

netcan 16y ago
This is all a very tricky area. I've heard several similar anecdotes and I think that Dan Arielly (behavioural economist / writer) talks about this as well. Bonuses quickly become part of your compensation and you consider them your due. But this whole area is full of irrationality. A 12,000 car bonus probably felt like a huge thing at the time. A $75 p/w raise probably would have felt like nothing out of the usual. You wouldn't have even mentioned the story if the secretary had expected another raise in a year or two.
rue 16y ago
Giving a one-time gift is not "rectifying" a fundamentally inequitable situation. Employees should feel like their work is appreciated and correctly valued all the time, not just in a burst of mania every few years.
- lionhearted 16y ago
  > Giving a one-time gift is not "rectifying" a fundamentally inequitable situation. I was a little lost for a second when you put "rectifying" in quotes and assumed an inequitable situation - I looked if the original poster used it; nope, he didn't. Did I? Nope, I didn't. I was responding to "aforementioned execs take all that for granted and the secretary remains a secretary in terms of pay and appreciation" - which I noted many people have thought before, and sometimes acted a little too hastily after thinking. So, I shared a story as a word of caution to people who think, "Yeah, my secretary does a lot! I should show more appreciation!" Well, yes you probably should, but you should probably think through the best way to do so before doing so. Also, I should note she was paid quite well. I forget the figures, but it was over market - this guy paid everyone well, my friend did like half his business just being one of his brokers. He paid way over market - which, stereotypes be damned, seems to actually be common among high performing people. They tend to compensate well from my firsthand experience. But I digress, she was paid quite well, so I was referring more to the "appreciation" than the compensation. The gift really was meant to be a gift and to show his appreciation, not as a rectification or a makeup or anything like that. > Employees should feel like their work is appreciated and correctly valued all the time, not just in a burst of mania every few years. Fully agreed, that's a good point.
  - rue 16y ago
    From the grandparent: > Long story short - many people have thought the same way as you and tried to rectify it, often with undesired results. I am obviously not familiar with the particular situation, so I was speaking in generalities: secretaries and assistants are I daresay as a rule vastly undercompensated in comparison with their bosses (and many other professions). In those circumstances, giving some lavish one-time gift or bonus is probably the worst kind of an incentive. Overall, I think we are in agreement...as you say: > Well, yes you probably should, but you should probably think through the best way to do so before doing [showing your appreciation].

netcan 16y ago

This is all a very tricky area. I've heard several similar anecdotes and I think that Dan Arielly (behavioural economist / writer) talks about this as well. Bonuses quickly become part of your compensation and you consider them your due. But this whole area is full of irrationality. A 12,000 car bonus probably felt like a huge thing at the time. A $75 p/w raise probably would have felt like nothing out of the usual. You wouldn't have even mentioned the story if the secretary had expected another raise in a year or two.

rue 16y ago

Giving a one-time gift is not "rectifying" a fundamentally inequitable situation. Employees should feel like their work is appreciated and correctly valued all the time, not just in a burst of mania every few years.

lionhearted 16y ago
> Giving a one-time gift is not "rectifying" a fundamentally inequitable situation. I was a little lost for a second when you put "rectifying" in quotes and assumed an inequitable situation - I looked if the original poster used it; nope, he didn't. Did I? Nope, I didn't. I was responding to "aforementioned execs take all that for granted and the secretary remains a secretary in terms of pay and appreciation" - which I noted many people have thought before, and sometimes acted a little too hastily after thinking. So, I shared a story as a word of caution to people who think, "Yeah, my secretary does a lot! I should show more appreciation!" Well, yes you probably should, but you should probably think through the best way to do so before doing so. Also, I should note she was paid quite well. I forget the figures, but it was over market - this guy paid everyone well, my friend did like half his business just being one of his brokers. He paid way over market - which, stereotypes be damned, seems to actually be common among high performing people. They tend to compensate well from my firsthand experience. But I digress, she was paid quite well, so I was referring more to the "appreciation" than the compensation. The gift really was meant to be a gift and to show his appreciation, not as a rectification or a makeup or anything like that. > Employees should feel like their work is appreciated and correctly valued all the time, not just in a burst of mania every few years. Fully agreed, that's a good point.
- rue 16y ago
  From the grandparent: > Long story short - many people have thought the same way as you and tried to rectify it, often with undesired results. I am obviously not familiar with the particular situation, so I was speaking in generalities: secretaries and assistants are I daresay as a rule vastly undercompensated in comparison with their bosses (and many other professions). In those circumstances, giving some lavish one-time gift or bonus is probably the worst kind of an incentive. Overall, I think we are in agreement...as you say: > Well, yes you probably should, but you should probably think through the best way to do so before doing [showing your appreciation].