I won the Q3 contest at work...

[Jack D.]

So our company (we make invasive medical devices) has decided to use new quarterly bonus contests with higher $ prizes as incentives to motivate the "Inmates" to work harder.

First prize(2) in this one is a Sony Bravia 32" LCD TV *AND* $1500 cash for each team member. Second prize(2) was an iPod Nano and $500 for each. Also available was a seperate $250 cash bonus goal. In total there were 12 teams with 148 members.

Well, we just finished the first contest and my team won one of the 2 First Prizes. Total take was $1750, a 32" LCD TV and they are taking all us winners (17) out for a ritzy chic-chic foo foo dinner in Boston (Is there an alcohol limit when the company is buying?).

So now I'm gettin' a new TV and some cash for three months of hell. Was it worth it? I don't know yet. I'll let you know when the damage to the tendon in my right wrist heals. We all said we were really tired and didn't under any circumstances want to participate in the next contest because it was so stressful... nope...never again....

So today they anounced the new contest for Q4. Damn!! First prize is the white 2.0ghz MacBook and $1500 cash. The $250 goal is now replaced by a new sliding payout that has no cap on the final amount you could earn (If this was available last quarter my team would have made an extra $1760 each!). How can I pass this one up? We knew part of the new prize was going to be a laptop but I had already made up my mind I wasn't going to get involved if they offered a PC.

Oh well, time to make more tape... http://www.lemaitre.com/medical_tape.asp

[MacArtist]

vein strippers.

One of those products you hope you never need.

Congrats on winning the contest.

[Panopticon]

Yes congrats!

This bonus program may explain why my hospital charges $5.95 for a Tylenol tablet (

[The UnDoug]

Our last incentive was a George Foreman grill clone. :-(

[ztirffritz]

I work in a factory of 250 people. Our only incenctive is to go as long as possible without an OSHA reportable incident. The longest we ever went was 8 years. After that it was only about 8 months. If we go 1 year without an OSHA incident we each receive $50. WooHoo...(it appears that it is difficult to express sarcasm and disdain in text)

[JoeBob]

We missed our financial and satisfaction goals by hundreths of a percent this fiscal year.
No bonuses for us.

Of course, right now I can work all the overtime I want for double time, plus an additional $12.50 an hour pay.

[Mactel]

When I read that subject title I thought you won a Quake 3 contest at work.

[Jack D.]

Ztirffritz, how can they afford that $50? Did they have to fire an executive? Relax, you did well on the disdain...

JoeBob, missing by a couple hundreths of a percent sucks, sorry to hear. But by not being sporting, your company has taken what could have been an extreme moral booster (give you the bonus) and turned it into a negative experience. Their loss.

Sorry to hear about cheap bosses but mine aren't really generous in their own way either. The cash and TV's are just a smoke screen. My team of 4 people produced over $2mm worth of tape strips and I figured that the prizes worked out to about .08 cents per to get tripple the usual output. There were 8 other teams that produced at double time also that got squat.

All in all, good for me because of TV and good for company because of all the extra product, not as much fun for the losers (I mean loser in the best possible way ;-) ) because they got nothing for their efforts while the company still benefits from the work they produced. Such is life! I'm glad to have gotten what prizes I did ....because I had to be at work anyway.

[trisho.]

[quote ztirffritz](it appears that it is difficult to express sarcasm and disdain in text)
No, no, it came through loud and clear. Thanks for the laugh.

Jack D., I received that telly, I would sell it promptly and pocket even more cash, but I'm not an A.V. person in the slightest.