Give the overtime weekend workers something...

[mitchelt]

I work as a commisioned salesman for a manufacturing company, because of poor planning on the management side, the guys (7 of them) in the back were asked to work overtime this weekend to get my important order out.

I thought it would be nice to swing by and take them a bunch of sodas and chocolate bars to say thank you. I forgot to mention (did not want to sound cheap)...the foreman was providing lunch.

I thought it was a nice gesture...someone else said they are being paid overtime so I did not have to give them anything.

What do you think?

 

[FleshLight]

Soda and chocolate bars? I would have gotten them lunch

 

[mitchelt]

Soda and chocolate bars? I would have gotten them lunch

The Foreman was providing lunch.

 

[OILFIELDTRASH]

They are getting paid time and a half and you feel bad for them?
If anything they are probably happy to get some extra money.

 

[lxskllr]

Money isn't good compensation for time imo. Being paid overtime is a matter of law. Knowing it's actually appreciated would go farther for moral, and make better employees. IOW, soda and candy bars are a token of appreciation.

 

[OILFIELDTRASH]

Money isn't good compensation for time imo. Being paid overtime is a matter of law. Knowing it's actually appreciated would go farther for moral, and make better employees. IOW, soda and candy bars are a token of appreciation.

Not for me. Spare me the atta boys or free lunch from the steak house on the weekends(one co I worked for did this). Bottom line is at the end of the week on the paycheck. End of story. You don't even need to be nice to me.

 

[mitchelt]

Not for me. Spare me the atta boys or free lunch from the steak house on the weekends(one co I worked for did this). Bottom line is at the end of the week on the paycheck. End of story. You don't even need to be nice to me.

That's just sad.

 

[OILFIELDTRASH]

That's just sad.

Why?

 

[Azraele]

A little nice goes a long way. Your gesture probably made their day. The world needs more like that.

 

[Ken g6]

I appreciated gestures like this (lunch in my case) when I was made to work weekends in the past.

 

[Jumpem]

They are already being compensated for their time. Plenty of white collar workers have to work weekends without any of the extra pay.

That said, it would be a nice gesture. We are never thanked like that.

 

[mitchelt]

Thank you for the comments...in the end, I felt good for doing it!

 

[darkxshade]

Mmm, yeah, I'm going to have to go ahead and ask you to come in next weekend as well.



Screw the sodas, buy them a case of the Mondays

 

[Leros]

Bringing in sodas or something is a nice gesture, but you should buy them lunch/dinner too.

 

[mitchelt]

Bringing in sodas or something is a nice gesture, but you should buy them lunch/dinner too.

I mentioned the Foreman was buying lunch.

 

[BoomerD]

Money isn't good compensation for time imo. Being paid overtime is a matter of law. Knowing it's actually appreciated would go farther for moral, and make better employees. IOW, soda and candy bars are a token of appreciation.

Not for me. Spare me the atta boys or free lunch from the steak house on the weekends(one co I worked for did this). Bottom line is at the end of the week on the paycheck. End of story. You don't even need to be nice to me.

That's just sad.

Nah, I'm with OilField on this one.
Just pay me well. The only "thanks" I want is given to me on Friday.

While hearing "Thanks for the extra effort" is nice, it's really all about the Benjamins for most hourly workers.

OP, your gesture was nice...and probably appreciated by them.

 

[dighn]

i agree with the others. you didn't have to, but it was a nice gesture. nice gestures are rarely unwelcome.

 

[Leros]

Ah, I didn't realize these were hourly workers. In that case, overtime pay + lunch is probably plenty.

I had a summer job in a manufacturing plant when I was a teen. Those guys worked 12 hours a day, 6 days a week and would have done anything for extra hours.

 

[Kadarin]

Like others have said, gestures are very nice and well appreciated, but extra cash on the paycheck is what really counts for those who have to work extra.

 

[Jeff7]

Like others have said, gestures are very nice and well appreciated, but extra cash on the paycheck is what really counts for those who have to work extra.

This.

Doing work for the company so that upper management gets handsomely rewarded, while you get a token thanks worth about $5, just doesn't motivate workers to do much of anything. If they're getting overtime and getting some extra little reward thrown in, such as getting free lunch, preferably not one that screams "This is the absolute cheapest thing I could find that can legally be classified as 'food,'" brought to them, then that can go a long way. If it's brought in by the member of management who needed them to do the work, then that can be even better. Unless that manager is universally disliked...then the additional exposure time is just another downside to the extra work.


Example: One company I know of attempted to implement a profit sharing program. Machinery was expected to be run at >125% capacity at all times (yes, they were serious about this), and 0% late shipments for the entire year. The profit sharing reward for a year of this improved productivity: $20. As you can imagine, that mainly served to reduce morale and productivity.
(It's unfortunate that there's an odd correlation between being a sociopath and running a company. It's not always the case, but...it's like some kind of systemic programming error in our brains.)


Yes, overtime pay is probably what they're after, but it's also helpful if this is not the case:
- "Don't worry, this weekend work is only temporary while we work on fixing this staffing shortage." - This isn't good when they keep saying this month after month, year after year, mostly as a way of making you be quiet and go away.

There are surely different environments though, and different mindsets. Some people will take any overtime they can possibly get, and really want to work 60+hrs per week, every week. Other people place greater value on having free time.

 

[Ns1]

I'm here with a consultant and I bought him coffee. He's getting paid 1.5x so he can buy his own lunch lol

 

[lxskllr]

I work overtime because I'm nice, and doing a favor for the company. I could hardly care less about 1.5 pay. I'm not getting rich either way. That's part of my life that's gone forever, doing something that's tolerable at best. Take advantage of that, and I won't be there long. I either won't be there working on Saturday, or I'll have a more suitable job elsewhere. Show some appreciation for the work(mandated laws aren't appreciation) and I'll be more likely to help you out in the future.

 

[Broheim]

I work overtime because I'm nice, and doing a favor for the company. I could hardly care less about 1.5 pay. I'm not getting rich either way. That's part of my life that's gone forever, doing something that's tolerable at best. Take advantage of that, and I won't be there long. I either won't be there working on Saturday, or I'll have a more suitable job elsewhere. Show some appreciation for the work(mandated laws aren't appreciation) and I'll be more likely to help you out in the future.

this.

 

[Slew Foot]

As CFO of a multi million dollar operation, nothing increases morale faster and cheaper than some unexepected food

 

[Jeff7]

As CFO of a multi million dollar operation, nothing increases morale faster and cheaper than some unexepected food

I guess everyone responds differently to certain incentives.