Did My Boss Just Give Away $5,000 at Work?

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A boss held a meeting to award a $5,000 bonus to one of three employees present, leading to mixed reactions. The winner was chosen randomly, which sparked discussions about fairness and the implications of such a reward system. Many felt it created competition rather than teamwork, potentially fostering distrust among employees. Some expressed disappointment over the randomness of the award, suggesting it could demoralize those who worked hard but were not recognized. The conversation also touched on the broader implications of management decisions regarding bonuses, with some suggesting that a more equitable approach would be to split the funds or donate to charity. Concerns were raised about how this practice could affect job performance ratings and morale, especially in a company facing layoffs. Overall, the situation highlighted the complexities of employee recognition and the potential negative consequences of arbitrary reward systems.
Evo
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My boss just asked me to meet him in the conference room. He wouldn't tell me what was going on, he said two more people were coming. Turns out he had $5,000 to give to one person, and since there were only three of us still at work on a Friday afternoon, he was going to draw a name and the winner got the money.

Obviously I didn't win.

I'm bummed.
 
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maybe you'll win next Friday
 
Uh, are you kidding me? Your boss hands out random $5k bonuses to people just for being there on a Friday afternoon?

No wonder our economy is so f'ed up right now.

- Warren
 
I would have split it into 3.

You win PF'ers fondness, respect and awe (a discriminating and hard to please crowd); so I say you're a winner.
 
chroot said:
Uh, are you kidding me? Your boss hands out random $5k bonuses to people just for being there on a Friday afternoon?

No wonder our economy is so f'ed up right now.

- Warren
Yup, he gave someone $5k during the holidays, since he was the only one there.

He says he has two more to give out but it will be raffled off between those that are here when he decides to do it.
 
EnumaElish said:
I would have split it into 3.

You win PF'ers fondness, respect and awe (a discriminating and hard to please crowd); so I say you're a winner.
Yes, that is better than $5,000. :cry:
 
Evo said:
My boss just asked me to meet him in the conference room. He wouldn't tell me what was going on, he said two more people were coming. Turns out he had $5,000 to give to one person, and since there were only three of us still at work on a Friday afternoon, he was going to draw a name and the winner got the money.

Obviously I didn't win.

I'm bummed.

Just think, if you hadn't known about it you would have no reason to be depressed.

I'll officially award you one box of Twinkies just for being you. Just send me the bill. :biggrin:
 
:cry::cry:
 
Evo said:
Yes, that is better than $5,000. :cry:
Get online NOW and treat yourself to a box of Godiva's best.

Send the bill to Ivan. :biggrin:
 
  • #10
I get the feeling your boss is either very indecisive or doesn't like his employees very much. It seems odd to me to mandate $5K to one person in an office full of people. That would encourage competition, but not teamwork. It would encourage sabotage and distrust in employees. Then the whole 'only one of you three can win, but I want you to be here to see the look on your faces when you lose' thing. It resembles the occassional reinforcement pattern found in gambling, and could be a way to increase productivity and general ass-kissing from employees at a minimum cost. I'm not impressed.
 
  • #11
He had asked for permission to split it but was denied.

The drawing was the only fair thing to do. And by drawing in front of us there could be no question that it was rigged.
 
  • #12
Well then I take back what I said about him.
 
  • #13
Now you know to bring a revolver next time you're called to the conference room.
 
  • #14
He should have just given it to me, I can keep a secret. The girl that won certainly doesn't need the money.
 
  • #15
Werg22 said:
Now you know to bring a revolver next time you're called to the conference room.
:smile:

Can't do that, last month they put a sticker on the front door of a gun with that red circle and line through it.
 
  • #16
Evo said:
He had asked for permission to split it but was denied.

The drawing was the only fair thing to do. And by drawing in front of us there could be no question that it was rigged.

Denied by who?
 
  • #17
IT's ok. It's worth more when you earn it.

Did you buy that?
 
  • #18
rewebster said:
Denied by who?
Our director.

Huckleberry said:
IT's ok. It's worth more when you earn it.

Did you buy that?
No.
 
  • #19
I'm going to cry. I really could have used that.
 
  • #20
Who couldn't?
 
  • #21
Ok--just one PF'er that's logged on at 5:40 CST will win ...
 
  • #22
Werg22 said:
Who couldn't?
I wouldn't have much use for it. I just came from the bank about half an hour ago, where I deposited $6k in checks that I picked up off the living room floor.
 
  • #23
Evo said:
I'm going to cry. I really could have used that.
I am sorry; that must have hurt.
 
  • #24
Evo said:
Our director.


your director has a 'funny' attitude toward bonuses----what kind of reception has this got with the non-winners?

(besides depression)
 
  • #25
Huckleberry said:
I wouldn't have much use for it. I just came from the bank about half an hour ago, where I deposited $6k in checks that I picked up off the living room floor.

Err, I guess it doesn't apply to those people who have $6k worth of money lurking on the living room floor.
 
  • #26
It was a bit mean, he goes "I have $5,000 to give away, (YAY) but only one of you can have it (cry).
 
  • #27
rewebster said:
your director has a 'funny' attitude toward bonuses----what kind of reception has this got with the non-winners?

(besides depression)
It wasn't a bonus. My boss was recently promoted and an old customer of his placed an order that paid out $5,000, since he can't take it, he wanted to split the money among us, but the director said that the compensation plan won't allow for splits (it doesn't). So one person got a nice freebie.
 
  • #28
If I remember correctly I read somewhere you check PF at work? If so, maybe your boss installed a spyware software and monitors your posts daily?

In either case, that's no way to get back at someone. Karma will reward you!
 
  • #29
The thread was about being put in a room with two other people and being told "only one of you will get this". I think anyone can relate to how that makes a person feel.
 
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  • #30
I would be insulted if my boss decided to hand out bonuses randomly and publicly to individuals where I work. I guess I wouldn't complain, but I wouldn't want to win either. I would generally resent the entire interruption. I guess considering that 5K is about 2 months of salary for me, we might have different interpretations on it's value.

I'm familiar with homelessness, so I live well below my means.
 
  • #31
What a horrible management decision by the director!

If I were in your shoes I would want to cry, too. I have a low tolerence for unfairness - it breaks my heart. Too sensitive, I guess.

If I were in the winner's shoes, I would split it with the other people in the room. I wouldn't feel as if I had earned it.
 
  • #32
--now that the dust has settled-----


staying around til 5pm at least has some 'potential' benefit
 
  • #33
Your compensation plan might forbid the split, but if you employees had adopted a win-win side agreement that required the winner to split with the other two, that might have worked ok. Taxation issues would have to be addressed, so the winner would have to figure the withholding on the gross, and split the net, but that's not too hard, unless you get unpredictable bonuses each year.
 
  • #34
BTW, Evo, I am supremely unlucky too. When I was working in a pulp mill, people were always circulating raffle tickets, and I would often buy them (often 50:50 raffles to benefit nice local non-profits) and never won a thing. A friend of mine who worked in the control room of the pulp mill was gold. He won an ice-auger and ice-fishing traps one time, a wood-stove another time, a snowmobile another time, and who knows how many little or larger cash prizes. Yeah, he DID buy into about every pool and raffle that was going on, but I firmly believe this guy came out way ahead in the time I worked with him. You could almost guarantee that somehow he would come out good on at least one quarterly score of the Super Bowl of a 10x10 $10 grid. It was a hot run. If he was out with his buddies somewhere, and he bought a raffle ticket, a lot of his pals would pass, saying "Charlie's got this one."
 
  • #35
Yeah, that's why I don't gamble, I know better.

Even when I win I lose. :smile: The people from Blackberry (cell phones) came to our office to show us their newest models and they had us answer questions and I won top prize, the girl reached into the box and handed me a blanklet, then for second prize she reached in and grabbed a new $200 Blackberry and handed to the second prize winner. Everyone immediately asked why first prize was a cheap blanket and she said, oh, sorry. I just let it slide.
 
  • #36
That is really stinky! The first-place winner should have been given a choice of prizes. I've chipped in on charity raffles when one of the prizes was a lot of heating oil. I could have grabbed that and given it to my father or one of my sisters, but it would have been WAY fairer to let the first-place winner to claim a little generator or an outboard motor if that's what they would prefer to get.

Doesn't much matter - I don't win squat anyway.
 
  • #37
You should just take the week off at a luxury resort in Hawaii. Send the bill to Ivan.
 
  • #38
That seems like a bizarre way to run an office, to just hand out money because you happen to be there on the right day and time. While it might be a nice incentive to stay late on a Friday night, it still seems an odd way to reward people for their effort when everyone who puts in the extra effort isn't compensated. You could have been sitting there twiddling your thumbs and doing your online shopping while waiting for someone to meet you for dinner and got the bonus while the person slaving away trying to get a big project in before a deadline gets nothing with that sort of scheme. Sounds like a great way to demoralize all the employees.

Then again, I've only won something twice that I can remember. Once was at a church dinner I attended with my grandparents as a kid. I had the chair with the piece of tape under it...I won the "centerpiece" on the table, which was about a 6 inch piece of a pine branch with a couple pinecones stuck on it. :rolleyes: Wheee...just what a little kid wants.

The other time I won something was almost worse. I won a frozen turkey from some charity raffle...while I was living in dorms with no freezer, no cooking implements other than a saucepan and a few spoons, and a shared oven that would have been too tiny to cook a turkey in even if I wanted to try. I had to send it home to my parents...and don't think I ever saw as much as a drumstick from it. :frown: Oh how my dorm mates would have loved me if I had a way to cook that! Seriously, the disappointment of winning a turkey and still not getting to enjoy eating it was far worse than never winning at all (I didn't expect to win, and just bought the chance to contribute to the charity).
 
  • #39
Moonbear said:
The other time I won something was almost worse. I won a frozen turkey from some charity raffle...while I was living in dorms with no freezer, no cooking implements other than a saucepan and a few spoons, and a shared oven that would have been too tiny to cook a turkey in even if I wanted to try. I had to send it home to my parents...and don't think I ever saw as much as a drumstick from it. :frown: Oh how my dorm mates would have loved me if I had a way to cook that! Seriously, the disappointment of winning a turkey and still not getting to enjoy eating it was far worse than never winning at all (I didn't expect to win, and just bought the chance to contribute to the charity).
:smile: You have the same luck I do.
 
  • #40
Evo said:
It wasn't a bonus. My boss was recently promoted and an old customer of his placed an order that paid out $5,000, since he can't take it, he wanted to split the money among us, but the director said that the compensation plan won't allow for splits (it doesn't). So one person got a nice freebie.
The compensation plan doesn't allow for splits, but it allows for raffles on some amount ($5K) to be handed out to whomever is around on Friday afternoon? I find this practice rather unsettling.

Ostensibly the three persons would equally deserve such a prize, and the only fair thing to do is split the $5k.
 
  • #41
Astronuc said:
The compensation plan doesn't allow for splits, but it allows for raffles on some amount ($5K) to be handed out to whomever is around on Friday afternoon? I find this practice rather unsettling.

Ostensibly the three persons would equally deserve such a prize, and the only fair thing to do is split the $5k.
I found it very unsettling also. I like the girl that won and it's certainly not her fault, but it left bad feelings overall. Not only is it money, but it retires quota which affects your job performance rating, pay raises, etc... It will be on her record that she sold this. Since our company has announced more layoffs, this could cause another person to lose their job if she is ranked higher than them because of this. There is just a long list of why it's wrong.

Perhaps a better way would have been to award it to the highest acheiver as a reward. Or not to award it to anyone. Although I could use the money, I have mixed feelings about if I had won.
 
  • #42
Since it seems a rather unfair advantage to whoever got the money for absolutely nothing I think the best thing that could have been does was to not offer it at all. Perhaps there could have been a way for it to be donated to a local charity that everyone in the office found worthy.
 
  • #43
Evo said:
I found it very unsettling also. I like the girl that won and it's certainly not her fault, but it left bad feelings overall. Not only is it money, but it retires quota which affects your job performance rating, pay raises, etc... It will be on her record that she sold this. Since our company has announced more layoffs, this could cause another person to lose their job if she is ranked higher than them because of this. There is just a long list of why it's wrong.
The bolded stuff is even more bizarre! This is just mind-boggling!

Since one of three could have won the lottery, how does the company justify giving credit for the sale? The winner simply won a draw in a lottery.

All the more reason I wouldn't like working in a large company.

Last week I was contacted by a head-hunter to see if I was interested in a management position at a sizeable architecture-engineering firm. I have no idea how they got my name - which is very disconcerting. I'd be quite pleased if the AE were to use our services though. :biggrin:
 
  • #44
Astronuc said:
The bolded stuff is even more bizarre! This is just mind-boggling!

Since one of three could have won the lottery, how does the company justify giving credit for the sale? The winner simply won a draw in a lottery.

All the more reason I wouldn't like working in a large company.

I agree. That sounds just plain nuts!
 
  • #45
I've never won anything and I always put my name into contests! Just last weekend at the motorcycle show I missed out on winning a new motorcycle in a draw and missed out on a motorcycle trip to Alaska . My sister on the other hand, it doesn't matter what the contest it, her name will get drawn every time! Some people have all the luck!
 
  • #46
Wow Evo, tough luck. :cry:

BUT it could be worse.

I work for a High Priced multinational which within the last few months has changed our vacation policy and replaced our profit sharing with a performance bonus. Now only the higher ranked employees get a bonus.


One of my coworkers sent an email complaining about his failure to get a bonus to...the CEO.

Evidently the head of our site received a message that the company does not need that kind of attidute in the work force. The shift sup for my coworker received a message to read to my now ex coworker, and they walked him out the door. I have no idea what he said in the email to the CEO. But he had been with the company for about 20yrs.

So Evo, don't complain to your boss's boss about not getting your bonus.


BTW.. yes.. I got a nice bonus.
 
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  • #47
Integral said:
Evidently the head of our site received a message that the company does not need that kind of attidute in the work force. The shift sup for my coworker received a message to read to my now ex coworker, and they walked him out the door. I have no idea what he said in the email to the CEO. But he had been with the company for about 20yrs.

Yikes, that's harsh!
 
  • #48
lisab said:
Yikes, that's harsh!

I thought so.

The phrase that came to my mind was: "The beatings will continue until moral improves".
 
  • #49
Integral said:
I thought so.

The phrase that came to my mind was: "The beatings will continue until moral improves".
:smile: Integral, what you posted previously about your co-worker sounds awful and not unlike speaking the truth at my company. (glad you got your bonus though)

Funny, For 2 years I said that our CEO was a moron and I was told to shut up. Recently our CEO was ousted by our shareholders for being incompetant. 'nuff said. I REALLY hate suck ups that are afraid to speak the truth, but they get the perks, I don't, I am a pariah.
 

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