Employee Appreciation

[Devils'Advocate]

I'm feeling extremely frustrated today. I work in the federal government, so I guess I should be used to that feeling by now.

There is a woman on my team of 5 programmers. She is undoubtedly the hardest working of any of them. She is extremely good with the clients and they are very happy with her work. By far and away she is the best employee I have had in my 10 years as a project manager. She's been working at the same job for 19 years and I've been her supervisor for the last 4. Every time she applies for a promotion she is turned down for one reason or another. I just can't figure it out. And I found out today that she got turned down yet again.

I know that if I were her, by now I'd be demotivated and trying to figure out why I was bustin' my ass all these years while everyone else is just "punching the clock" so to speak. However she still gives nothing less than 110% every day.

I don't think that effort should go unrecognized/unrewarded. So I'm sittin' here tonight wracking my brain trying to think of a good way to show her that even if the agency doesn't appreciate her efforts, that her superiors and clients most certainly do. Does anyone have any ideas? Anyone ever been in a similar situation?

[JiriHrdina]

I've seen it happen to good people as well - some folks don't have any idea how to present themselves. They can be hard-working effective workers, but the vibe they give off is not one that instills confidence. Or maybe she interviews poorly. Not sure. But in any working environment you have to market yourself to move up. Some people suck at that.

[BlackArcher101]

It probably comes down to this... they are better off keeping here there instead of promoting her. She may be doing too good of a job that they are afraid someone else won't be able to fill her shows when they promote her. Either that or they simply don't like her as a person (been there, seen it).

[photon]

Yup, that's the problem with getting too good and what you do, you become indispensable.

Or it could be that she's actually only working at 50%, and is good enough that she outproduces everyone else still. That's the thing with programmers, there can be an order of magnitude difference in productivity from the average ones to the really great ones.

[Devils'Advocate]

We heard back from the person that took her out in the screening process and he said that her application was riddled with:
"I helped build project X" and "Worked with a team that established Y"
And that's just the way that she is. She won't take full credit for work that she primarily did.

I've done a couple searches around the 'Net and found some interesting suggestions. Many don't fit as I don't have the power to grant them (give someone the day off; give someone bonus money). But I did find a few good ones:
- give the employee a window office (I'd have to give up my own, but what the hell, I'm rarely ever IN it)
- a thank you card with notes from the clients she's helped in the last year
- as I mentioned, she has been there 19 years. So in 6 months she'll hit the 20 mark. I think that might be a good time to have a lunch out and track down some of the people she used to work with before I joined the team; past friends and co-workers that she lost touch with....

[calf]

Originally Posted by Devils'Advocate

I don't think that effort should go unrecognized/unrewarded. So I'm sittin' here tonight wracking my brain trying to think of a good way to show her that even if the agency doesn't appreciate her efforts, that her superiors and clients most certainly do. Does anyone have any ideas? Anyone ever been in a similar situation?

Tell her how much you appreciate her and her work. Include a card and a gift certificate to some place she likes.

The first part is the most important, IMO.

[Devils'Advocate]

Originally Posted by BlackArcher101

She may be doing too good of a job that they are afraid someone else won't be able to fill her shows when they promote her.

Originally Posted by photon

Yup, that's the problem with getting too good and what you do, you become indispensable.

I've seen that too many times as well.... but that's not the case here. With our agency and many others in the federal government an "impartial" panel evaluates the applicants. Typically they bring back retired former employees to be on the panel as they shouldn't have any such self-interest concerns. I only have the word "impartial" in quotes because there is always the human element that if this ex-employee knows an applicant and knows their work they are, either consciously or subconsciously, biased for or against the applicant before even reviewing their application.

[Coach]

I don't have really any experience in this at all, but as her supervisor, wouldn't the higher-ups consult with you after recieving her application as to whether or not shes a good candidate?

[NSFL]

Yo man, giving up your office is a grand gesture. That would show some serious appreciation.

[Devils'Advocate]

Originally Posted by MattyC

I don't have really any experience in this at all, but as her supervisor, wouldn't the higher-ups consult with you after recieving her application as to whether or not shes a good candidate?

You would think. And you would think that there would be some kind of tie-in between performance reviews and advancement, but there isn't. You could be an exemplary employee for many, many years and it counts for squat. And my opinion as her supervisor counts for diddly until the very final phase (reference checks).

I guess I'm peeved at the process, but it's what you get when you accept a career in the government. Though it's better than what I saw in the private sector when they gave the promotion to the inept former OHL player with a side agreement that he would join the company hockey team.

[Ice]

I think the most valuable thing you can give her is the information you have about why she was passed up. Maybe take her to lunch, tell her how much you appreciate her work and help her understand what she needs to do so she's not passed up next time a promotion is possible. Once she understands how much you value her, it could give her the confidence to start taking credit for her work.

[killer_carlson]

I agree with Ice.

Take her for lunch, pass along your surprise with the outcome and offer her support for the next position that she applies for. Be sure to offer yourself as a reference for the next position.

That shows that her immediate superiors think highly of her and keeps her motivated until the next job comes up.

You may also want to talk up the food chain and cc two steps up the food chain in respect of what a high quality employee they have. Inquire if there is any discretionary benefit that can be offered to the employee as a gesture of appreciation. You may not have the discretion to pass along the benefit, but someone higher up may. Again, it's the gesture here, and the fact that the people higher up see this, she may be snapped up sooner rather than later.

[evilcougar]

i am a manager as well and have 5 employees under me. the most recent person i finally got promoted was just as you described your employee. by far and away the best employee ever. awesome at multi tasking, awesome producer, great with customers, great coach to the rest of my employees. however, he was passed up 2 times before i finally got him promoted in november.
i knew this going into the branch when i took it over in april. so, knowing this, i went in there with the intent that there was just no way this person was going to be passed up again on my watch.
i sat with him and coached him every chance i got. he was pretty much ready to leave the company before i got there. i worked with him and did this and pumped him up in monthly reviews, i basically made him my right hand in everything i did. i helped him put his resume together when the next position came available and i coached him on how to answer questions to our district manager and played devils advocate (no pun intended LOL) the whole time to make him be able to think like a manager in order to get the position.
there were 8 applicants for the position, the posting was open for one week, my DM interviewed all applicants b/c he has to, but literally the minute he was done interviewing, my employee was informed he got the job.
it was a huge loss for me business wise, but, i know that he will wreap the same rewards i've been so fortunate to take advantage of, and on top of it, i came out with a great friend and colleague.
so other than the fantastic ideas posted above (getting her a nice appreciation gift of some kind etc....) the very best thing you can do for yourself and for her is to make HER your number one priority and see to it that it doesnt' happen again. there is obviously something missing in her interview process, which by the sounds of it, when boiled down...is lack of confidence (not taking credit for things she actually did) the only way your'e going to instill that confidence is if YOU make a big deal of what she did every time she does it and then tell higher ups about it so the word spreads. she knows, just like my employee knew, how awesome they are, but theyr'e afraid to tell others in order to further themselves.
statistics prove that more often than not ppl leave their job b/c of their manager not b/c of money.
not to say its YOU. i'm just saying in general, if someone has an awesome boss, there is an exteremly high chance they won't leave you (or the company/government). you know waht i mean. lol.
coaching and constant verbal appreciation from you AND higher ups is a major major contributor.
thats the best thing you can do for her. IMO.

[Rathji]

One thing you might want to be careful of, is planting or nourishing a seed of discontent.

If what you are doing convinces her that she is worse off than she feels now, she might become more jaded and lose some of her motivation, making a promotion for her even less likely.

I am not saying it will happen for sure, but it is something to think about when you are considering your course of action.

[chid]

My former bosses typically gave me a card with a gift card in it as appreciation, sometimes I'd get non-romantic type flowers like a sunflower boquet - which I definitely loved.

Lunch is definitely something everyone enjoys so I'd vouch for that as well. Just being acknowledged is great!

[Devils'Advocate]

Originally Posted by evilcougar

the very best thing you can do for yourself and for her is to make HER your number one priority and see to it that it doesnt' happen again.

I think that is what it boils down to for me. My management wants me spending all my time and resources dealing with the poor employees and not spending my time investing in the good employees. And *THAT* is out of complete self-interest. It's similar to what was said above. My management would be absolutely delighted if this person was never promoted. I'm put in the position of doing what my management wants or what I think is right. But that's the nice thing about being in government - I can do what I think is right and not get fired.

[mykalberta]

Buy her some crave cupcakes, all women love them.

[troutman]

Originally Posted by mykalberta

Buy her some crave cupcakes, all women love them.

Damn you Crave Cupcakes. Now, I'm expected to bring them every day.

[Titan]

[quote=chid;1698387]My former bosses typically gave me a card with a gift card in it as appreciation, sometimes I'd get non-romantic type flowers like a sunflower boquet - which I definitely loved.

quote]


The rest of the time you would get romantic flowers?

[chid]

^^ Hahah not from my boss NO!