Volunteers: Assignments with impossible deadlines or pointless pet-projects work best when asking for volunteers. Offer nebulous rewards with as few specifics as possible like “an appropriate amount of comp-time”, or “the thanks of upper management”, or the ultimate, vague non-reward, “a chance to work on elite company-critical research projects in the future”. If no one […]

Thank You ‘Gifts’: Reinforce the belief that hard work will pay off. Reward employees for extra effort or time, but consider a ‘thank you gift’ rather than actual money, promotions, or salary increases. Suggested are the following: plants, food/gift baskets, cakes, household items, sports tickets, or a dinner. Make sure the ‘gift’ is a fraction […]