In my heart I agree with Beth Clark about how profits in some companies
are not being passed down, so monetary rewards take on a more urgent,
necessary form--they're almost required to keep one's family or one's
personal head above water.
While this may not be the case in many companies whose members are on this
list, I would venture to say there are probably some employees out there
who would nod in agreement with Beth's assessment.
Playing the devil's advocate, Beth, I'd say that the relative tokenism
which implicated here still has a small place in recognition. If we go
down the ladder of abstraction to review, for instance, examples of
departmental meetings where unique recognition (plaques, pins,
certificates) and non-unique recognition (cash awards) are given, we'd
find that the recipients warm up to these things to a greater or lesser
degree. That's what the workplace proves, what the literature attests to.
Your comment, though, on the macro level, is true and troubling. Is the
paradigm and shared vision among the most wealthy entrepreneurs in this
country simply living as wealthily as possible in one's lifetime, and to
hell with the rest? Is the chief at the Malden Mill, which burned to the
ground in Massachusetts, a dying breed? He, after all, continues to give
full wages to his vast workforce during reconstruction, rather than
pulling up stakes and rebuilding in South Carolina, Singapore or China.
Regards,
-- Barry Mallis bmallis@markem.com