workaday Wednesday
Mar. 2nd, 2022 06:22 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
marcicatTowards the end of last year, my workplace announced that they were changing the way they do prizes and gifts, and everything would be done through their new "rewards platform." It seemed pretty simple -- instead of mailing people t-shirts or gift cards, they would just give them virtual "points," which could then be redeemed by the employee for a wide array of products (or, somewhat humorously, gift cards).
[Yes, it has been pointed out to them many times that employees would prefer money. This has not had any impact thus far.]
So: simple. It's points now; everything is points! We even had multiple training meetings around the new points system!
AND YET. Everything is apparently NOT points, because so far this year I have received:
*A plastic tube full of hot chocolate mix, complete with snowflake stirrer and miniature candy cane. This was for Valentine's Day, despite my sneaking suspicion that it was leftover from Christmas. (Just one tube -- single serve Valentine only.)
*A mahjong set. (Why? That's a great question! I have no idea! The slip of paper it came with said it was a raffle prize for Lunar New Year, so I'm going with that as the most likely explanation. Neither the raffle nor the winners were ever announced by work, as far as I know.)
*A journal, compostable plant pot, and a supposedly plantable pen (seeds in the top???), shipped from the United Kingdom. Why an overseas shipment? Who knows! Is it even legal to ship seeds internationally? I don't know! (This was for employee appreciation day, scheduled for this Friday, though as they've said repeatedly, "they try to appreciate us every day.")
The sheer entertainment value of seeing what shows up in the mail is admittedly high. The bafflement factor is also high.
[Yes, it has been pointed out to them many times that employees would prefer money. This has not had any impact thus far.]
So: simple. It's points now; everything is points! We even had multiple training meetings around the new points system!
AND YET. Everything is apparently NOT points, because so far this year I have received:
*A plastic tube full of hot chocolate mix, complete with snowflake stirrer and miniature candy cane. This was for Valentine's Day, despite my sneaking suspicion that it was leftover from Christmas. (Just one tube -- single serve Valentine only.)
*A mahjong set. (Why? That's a great question! I have no idea! The slip of paper it came with said it was a raffle prize for Lunar New Year, so I'm going with that as the most likely explanation. Neither the raffle nor the winners were ever announced by work, as far as I know.)
*A journal, compostable plant pot, and a supposedly plantable pen (seeds in the top???), shipped from the United Kingdom. Why an overseas shipment? Who knows! Is it even legal to ship seeds internationally? I don't know! (This was for employee appreciation day, scheduled for this Friday, though as they've said repeatedly, "they try to appreciate us every day.")
The sheer entertainment value of seeing what shows up in the mail is admittedly high. The bafflement factor is also high.
