Yes it is. I think we need a much stronger word than “optimistic” for that assumption.
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In the corporate world, the trash always floats to the top of the toilet.
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My wife, who is an ARNP, spent a large part of a Chicago to Copenhagen flight caring for a fellow passenger who was having a heart attack. As a token of their gratitude, Lufthansa gave her a certificate for a small discount on a first class fare on a future flight–valid for 6 months only. We were so impressed that we haven’t flown on Lufthansa since then. That was 17 years ago.
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we have a bonus/lottery system where i work. if you don’t make the cut your body gets dumped from the sixth floor corner office window out into the bay. your family gets entered into a drawing where they may or may not get a one time check of a hundred dollars for their pain.
but, heck. it keeps the lights on.
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Looks like Cory left out a little info. According to the linked article, those prizes are:
Mercedes-Benz C-Class or $40,000
Platinum United Vacations package or $20,000
Gold United Vacations package or $10,000
So presumably you wouldn’t have to take the car or vacation if you didn’t want to—you’d still pay your taxes, presumably, but rather than having to pay $3000 for a “free” $10,000 vacation, you’d be getting $7000 as a bonus.
Also, according to the linked article, it’s not a “single annual grand prize" of $100,000—rather, the bonuses will be quarterly.
Also, for thoroughness here, it’s 300 $5,000 (not $500) cash bonuses, and 1,000 $2,000 cash bonuses.
Edit: Cory’s post now says “single quarterly grand prize is $100,000” and “300 $5000 bonuses”.
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To be clear, I’m not defending United in any way. It seems like a lousy program.
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The jam of the month club really is the gift that keeps on giving.
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Wow… Perfect attendance. As I am well conditioned by now, I was almost cool with it.
This is approaching dystopian.
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Well, that’s a shocker.
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Approaching? You are well conditioned! We passed that milestone quite a while back.
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That’s where you’re wrong bucko! I bet that he won the full understanding of how your former company regarded employees like you.
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I wonder if groups of employees will start making pacts that if one of them wins, they’ll split it with the rest of their work-group?
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They should make the program mandatory for all employees in the executive pay grades.
They’d save over $7 million dollars on the CEO alone.
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So they replaced a system where United employees who come up with ways to save the company money were duly compensated for that effort, thus saving the company money.
I sure hope the employee who came up with that idea was able to appreciate the irony.
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Moved to US in 2000. In 18 yrs, I have flown United thrice, because there was no other choice.
Every few months, they provide reasons to stay away from flying with United.
Many occasions I have bought a more expensive ticket from other airlines to avoid United. Some times, I have even taken flights with extra stops over non-stop from United, because how they treat their employees and customers. I am glad I don’t live in a city which is a United hub!!
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and the TSA thanks you for the donation to their employee lottery program
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Hey, at least United didn’t tie the “bonus” (or lottery) to projected sales.
I had that happen to me:
“Everyone gets a bonus of $1000 if we make our sales numbers!”
-later-
“We did it!. We made the numbers! Great job everyone!
Unfortunately, if we pay out the bonus, we will no longer see those sales numbers.”
translation:
Thanks for the effort, no rewards for you because if we give you that bonus, it cuts deeply into the CEO’s bonus.
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As someone who usually gets (9/10 years typically) a bonus at the end of the year that is company wide - I can say it does. I think if the bonus was a lotto or ‘incentivized’ so that most people didn’t get it - it wouldn’t. The only thing that keeps you from being ‘ineligible’ is getting a ‘last chance before your fired’ evaluation. That said the bonus is tied to various company wide goals - and while it doesn’t generally change any one decision - they are large enough goals (stay under 80% of your budget for example) that people try to keep them in mind for the year.
If most people wouldn’t get the bonus - not enough people would care. I’m pretty sure the overall goal of ‘80% of your budget’ saves enough money to pay for the bonus flat out - so if we get the bonus - we saved the company enough money to give it to ourselves, roughly 50% of the bonus ‘payout’ is tied to this goal - and no other cash can be paid if that goal isn’t met. The other goals just add to the number - in general I think it works to make people think about how to save cash when possible.
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It’s okay if the leaders aren’t required to play. One of their distant relatives that work for the company will win the grand prize. I’ve seen a few of these corporate contests. Just don’t tell anyone that at the start of the contest. You won’t be a “team player”.
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“You get to drink from the firehose!”
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