Give the overtime weekend workers something...

[ultimatebob]

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

Free food is nice, but overtime pay and flex time works better!

Hell... I'll work a Sunday night any time, if it means that I can take off a Wednesday afternoon on a nice day!

 

[RU482]

It's always good to provide some sort of appreciation/perks in situations like this. Builds loyalty and raises morale.... when executed correctly anyway

 

[mitchelt]

Regardless of the 1.5X pay they received...I still think it was something I should do.

I'm a firm believer that a sincere THANK YOU gesture and a handshake can work wonders.

 

[dighn]

I'm a firm sincere believer that a THANK YOU gesture and a handshake can work wonders.

it does. the 1.5x pay is a number and expected. the thank you is extra and shows that someone cares. it's not a substitute for the extra pay but with both one can hardly complain.

 

[spidey07]

Regardless of the 1.5X pay they received...I still think it was something I should do.

I'm a firm sincere believer that a THANK YOU gesture and a handshake can work wonders.

What I do as a thank you when they have to work is be there with them and take care of anything they need. Food, helping out, WORKING, humping gear, cleaning up, whatever. I'm not leaving until I leave with them when the job is done. The job is my responsibility as is their work so I can't help myself to help out. I turn into their "get shit done" guy. As in "hey spidey, get this shit done for me".

And then afterwards, join them for beers and dinner at applebees and get the first few rounds and not be cheap about any of it even if it's coming out of my own pocket without compensation.

One of the largest network builds I did had some 40 people working on it at my direction. What did I do? Helped mount gear and unwrap/untangle cables and not get on their ass in anyway. A few of the guys said "you're way above our pay scale and it's your project you don't need to do this". I just said "I want to help, let me know what I can do or tell me to stay out of your way".

 

[Mixolydian]

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

so fucking true.

lol@ fuckinmg bigshot.

 

[mitchelt]

What I do as a thank you when they have to work is be there with them and take care of anything they need. Food, helping out, WORKING, humping gear, cleaning up, whatever. I'm not leaving until I leave with them when the job is done. The job is my responsibility as is their work so I can't help myself to help out. I turn into their "get shit done" guy. As in "hey spidey, get this shit done for me".

And then afterwards, join them for beers and dinner at applebees and get the first few rounds and not be cheap about any of it even if it's coming out of my own pocket without compensation.

One of the largest network builds I did had some 40 people working on it at my direction. What did I do? Helped mount gear and unwrap/untangle cables and not get on their ass in anyway. A few of the guys said "you're way above our pay scale and it's your project you don't need to do this". I just said "I want to help, let me know what I can do or tell me to stay out of your way".

And you my friend are a GREAT boss! I bet those guys would not think twice about helping you again.

 

[Red Squirrel]

I think it would be a great deed. It's incredible how something that simple can boost morale. The money is expected, and is law, it's equivalent to building something minimum code. To go beyond and bring them a treat and just the fact of showing you care makes a bit difference.

 

[richardycc]

asking us at 1pm? dude,you missed the boat, you should've bought them breakfast and coffee to set the tone and let them know you appreciate them coming in on Sat to get the order out.

 

[mitchelt]

asking us at 1pm? dude,you missed the boat, you should've bought them breakfast and coffee to set the tone and let them know you appreciate them coming in on Sat to get the order out.

Dude...do you think I posted this after the fact? :whiste:

 

[mitchelt]

I think it would be a great deed. It's incredible how something that simple can boost morale. The money is expected, and is law, it's equivalent to building something minimum code. To go beyond and bring them a treat and just the fact of showing you care makes a bit difference.

Thank you!

Like you said, money is expected and it's the law, but the little extra personal touch is were it's at.

 

[mistercrabby]

It's a nice gesture. There is no one thing that motivates people to do their best work.

 

[MixMasterTang]

I think it all depends on how much your commission for this order will be. If its 1000 or so, no need to do much, if its 10,000 or more you should buy a few bottles of their favorite liquor for when they finish up!

 

[JimmiG]

I would love to have a job where I could work the occasional weekend or night - either get some extra cash or take a day off in the middle of the week when stores are actually open and public transport is operational.

 

[notposting]

Since it sounds like you aren't directly in their chain of command, they probably appreciated it. They will try not to drop something heavy on you when they are aiming for management later.

Also, they should bargain a better contract. Electrical construction, so a different field, but here in Detroit (IBEW 58) we get 1.5x over 8 hours, 1.5x over 40 (obviously), 1.5x for Saturday, and 2x for Sunday/holidays. This, you could say, inspires the contractors to plan well.

 

[velillen]

Really this depends. For someone who works 500 hours of overtime a year...mostly likely could care less about you doing it once. Now if its a last minute Fridy 5 minutes before getting off and you tell them then its going ot be appreciated.

worked 7/12's for 5 months straight last last. I can tell you i could care less if my boss or even his boss bought us pizza or breakfast or whatever. The only reason it was nice was cause it meant a longer lunch generally. But it never made us appreciate them more since we knew they werent working the same amount of hours we were. Even when we have a bit of overtime now its no big deal and i do it for the money...and generally more relaxed work (less management and people makes our work easier)

Now if its the guys who never get any overtime and its a rare thing for this to happen...then they would probably appreciate lunch or snacks a lot more and feel appreciated by the upper management more.

 

[mitchelt]

Since it sounds like you aren't directly in their chain of command, they probably appreciated it. They will try not to drop something heavy on you when they are aiming for management later.

That's funny!

 

[Ns1]

Really this depends. For someone who works 500 hours of overtime a year...mostly likely could care less about you doing it once. Now if its a last minute Fridy 5 minutes before getting off and you tell them then its going ot be appreciated.

worked 7/12's for 5 months straight last last. I can tell you i could care less if my boss or even his boss bought us pizza or breakfast or whatever. The only reason it was nice was cause it meant a longer lunch generally. But it never made us appreciate them more since we knew they werent working the same amount of hours we were. Even when we have a bit of overtime now its no big deal and i do it for the money...and generally more relaxed work (less management and people makes our work easier)

Now if its the guys who never get any overtime and its a rare thing for this to happen...then they would probably appreciate lunch or snacks a lot more and feel appreciated by the upper management more.

so in your case, COULD anything else have been a motivating factor, besides money?

 

[Corporate Thug]

those little things certainly go a long way for morale and are oftern neglected my management. You would be surprised how appreciative the workers would be.

 

[BlitzPuppet]

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.

My company always gives me Comp time, AKA take a few days off good job, when I have to work on weekends.

Don't get any more white collar than IT Admins

 

[HardcoreRobot]

i think its a nice gesture

 

[Puppies04]

Gestures > money.

Even if i'm only working saturday because I need the cash, knowing you appreciate it will make me more likely to work overtime next time you need something doing even if I don't need the money.

 

[Midwayman]

If I'm on salary, soda and chocolate is a 'F U'. If I'm already getting overtime its a nice gesture.

 

[velillen]

so in your case, COULD anything else have been a motivating factor, besides money?

Honestly what was the nicest was just having the management tell us we were doing a good job and just verbally tell us good things. That did a hell of a lot more than buying us thongs.

 

[alkemyst]

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.

I value my time. I don't work much more than 40 hours anymore nor want to.