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Real Employee Appreciation
The last employee appreciation event I attended was so insulting, it was like an awards ceremony in prison.
I received a rubber duck at a lunch of fast food which had long gone cold. There was a drawing held for various crappy prizes from a dollar store. The most expensive item given away was a $12 office clock.
Someone stole my duck.
This is how an employer expressed their gratitude to me for being on time every single day, never going over on my lunchtime and not missing work for an entire year.
The lukewarm expression was more damaging to my morale than if they had remained silent.
In these types of events, it would be better to do nothing rather than remove the doubt with a subpar expression of obligation in the form of the cold pizzas and paper plates which proclaims, “This how little we value your contribution.”
The worst part was listening to the executive drone on about his fabulous career. He didn’t know my name, didn’t recognize anyone, and didn’t introduce any of the staff.
It was no surprise that his speech focused on qualities they wanted from the staff like “loyalty” and “teamwork” — things that were not be reciprocated. This was nothing more than employee-facing corporate propaganda. Many of my coworkers openly expressed hostility…
