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Completely agreed. Praise from the company is basically worthless to me; I don't need to be told that I'm good, if I'm doing well I'll know it. If you truly val

Completely agreed. Praise from the company is basically worthless to me; I don't need to be told that I'm good, if I'm doing well I'll know it. If you truly value my services then the only meaningful way to show that is through increased salary. Anything less is simply an attempt at manipulation. Recognition in front of peers is good for other reasons, but its not a replacement for financial reward.

deleted 13y ago
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aestra 13y ago
>I don't need to be told that I'm good, if I'm doing well I'll know it. This might sound strange to you, but some subset of the population won't know it. Ever heard of the Dunning-Kruger_effect[1]? Actual competence may weaken self-confidence and the unskilled might have illusory superiority. There are also many cultural and social environments where an individual person comes from which gives them a negative self image no matter how well they are performing. It might not even occur to them they are doing a good job. Victims of abuse, for example. Taking a second or two to say "good job" gives the person actual feedback. I'm not saying you should make a show, but job feedback is important. [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
- hackinthebochs 13y ago
  My point didn't quite come off how I intended. I do agree that a "good job" here and there are essential. Praise for a job well done should be an integral part of being a competent manager or tech lead. But this can't be seen as a replacement for communicating worth to the employee by financial rewards. When the company itself tries to set up some process for praising good work as an alternative for financial rewards, that's where it becomes manipulation.
  - aestra 13y ago
    Absolutely.
kurige 13y ago
There are a lot of people who, even if they are highly technically competent, are not as comfortable taking independent action outside of what they've been directly told to do. Or worse, don't consider it to be part of their job at all. If you want to promote any kind of sense of ownership or pride, find something they did that you didn't ask them to do and tell them that you think it's awesome. (Assuming you actually think it's awesome.) That's it. I'm completely against patronizing, but to not signal to your employees that you value their judgement, independence and skill is... just foolish.
cschneid 13y ago
You certainly can't use praise as an excuse for not paying well. But it's cool to have a quick one-off "hey, great job hunting down that bug" from somebody.

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aestra 13y ago

>I don't need to be told that I'm good, if I'm doing well I'll know it. This might sound strange to you, but some subset of the population won't know it. Ever heard of the Dunning-Kruger_effect[1]? Actual competence may weaken self-confidence and the unskilled might have illusory superiority. There are also many cultural and social environments where an individual person comes from which gives them a negative self image no matter how well they are performing. It might not even occur to them they are doing a good job. Victims of abuse, for example. Taking a second or two to say "good job" gives the person actual feedback. I'm not saying you should make a show, but job feedback is important. [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect

hackinthebochs 13y ago
My point didn't quite come off how I intended. I do agree that a "good job" here and there are essential. Praise for a job well done should be an integral part of being a competent manager or tech lead. But this can't be seen as a replacement for communicating worth to the employee by financial rewards. When the company itself tries to set up some process for praising good work as an alternative for financial rewards, that's where it becomes manipulation.
- aestra 13y ago
  Absolutely.

kurige 13y ago

There are a lot of people who, even if they are highly technically competent, are not as comfortable taking independent action outside of what they've been directly told to do. Or worse, don't consider it to be part of their job at all. If you want to promote any kind of sense of ownership or pride, find something they did that you didn't ask them to do and tell them that you think it's awesome. (Assuming you actually think it's awesome.) That's it. I'm completely against patronizing, but to not signal to your employees that you value their judgement, independence and skill is... just foolish.

cschneid 13y ago

You certainly can't use praise as an excuse for not paying well. But it's cool to have a quick one-off "hey, great job hunting down that bug" from somebody.