4 ms·

>The first (and stated) effect of this policy is to weed out the unmotivated employees. I would argue the opposite. This policy is going to get rid of the mos

by lsc 13y ago

>The first (and stated) effect of this policy is to weed out the unmotivated employees. I would argue the opposite. This policy is going to get rid of the most ambitious of your lower-paid folks, leaving you with people who have loyalty - and those who don't feel they have other options. the "lifers" who want to stay with your company long-term, even at the cost of their long-term career. I mean, those people can be good employees to have, but I wouldn't call them more motivated than the folks who will switch jobs for a 20% bonus. (oh god, do you remember when you went from $20/hr to $25/hr? you feel it in a way that you don't feel going from $40/hr to $50/hr) I mean, I'm not going to switch jobs for five grand, unless I was going to switch jobs otherwise... but that's because it's a very small portion of my yearly income as a percentage. If amazon is offering this to warehouse workers who presumably make around $25K/yr, that's 20% of a yearly salary. For a 20% bonus? Yeah, I'd probably switch jobs. Or just take a nice long vacation. But, I'm also not the sort to stick with a company if I don't think it's furthering my own career goals.

golergka 13y ago
Ambition for $2-5k?
- lsc 13y ago
  If you are making $25k a year working in a warehouse, another five grand is absolutely huge. I agree that if you are giving this to people making $100K+ per year, it doesn't really have the same impact. Five grand is about what I'd expect for a "hey, you are doing okay but not stellar" annual raise within the company. My big point, though, was that ambition and loyalty are often conflicting motivations.
ghshephard 13y ago
From the literature, Amazon contracts out it's warehouse duties to fulfillment companies. I'd be interested if anyone knew if Amazon had any direct employees (other than Sr. Management) that worked in the warehouses.
- lsc 13y ago
  Huh. What about call centers? Thinking of it that way, the whole thing starts to make a little more sense. It is /hard/ to run a good low-end support organization, and it's one of those rare situations where attitude matters to the point where you want to get rid of the bad attitudes even if they are otherwise competent.

by lsc 13y ago

golergka 13y ago

Ambition for $2-5k?

lsc 13y ago
If you are making $25k a year working in a warehouse, another five grand is absolutely huge. I agree that if you are giving this to people making $100K+ per year, it doesn't really have the same impact. Five grand is about what I'd expect for a "hey, you are doing okay but not stellar" annual raise within the company. My big point, though, was that ambition and loyalty are often conflicting motivations.

ghshephard 13y ago

From the literature, Amazon contracts out it's warehouse duties to fulfillment companies. I'd be interested if anyone knew if Amazon had any direct employees (other than Sr. Management) that worked in the warehouses.

lsc 13y ago
Huh. What about call centers? Thinking of it that way, the whole thing starts to make a little more sense. It is /hard/ to run a good low-end support organization, and it's one of those rare situations where attitude matters to the point where you want to get rid of the bad attitudes even if they are otherwise competent.