A recognition program? How about bosses just stop being assholes?

I’ve written before about employee recognition and even about the mostly-flawed nature of incentive programs, and this one will have some similarities around the concept of rewards and recognition programs.

In short: you spend a lot of time at work, right? Periodically or maybe often, you perform well while there. What are the rewards and recognition strategies the company, or your direct boss, will use when you do well?

This can range from “Starbucks gift card” to “a three-week vacation to Borneo,” and likely how far you get on that ladder is going to be tied to where you are within a hierarchy (and how big a company you work for).

But the problem is: the way we’re doing it now — in most places — is largely a mess.

A money (but sad) quote on employee rewards and recognition

From an article called “Putting Humanity First In Our Organizations,” which admittedly doesn’t happen very much:

Organizational psychologist Nicole Lipkin said that humanity “is the crux of everything” in organizations, yet “we’ve gone against human nature in how we’ve designed them.” She said that excessive rules go against the “sticky culture” of a great team, one on which people appreciate one…