Story time! My workplace (EMS/medical transportation) is crumbling slowly under the weight of poor management. Yes, our current supervisors are better than the outright-abusive last ones were… but thats a pretty low bar. I've been here 5 years, and they paid a pretty good wage for 2017, but 3% (or less) cost of living increase each year has us at the buying/living power of what should be minimum wage.
We are all burnt out, and as such have mostly stopped picking up extra shifts when people are out sick or on vacations. Upper management expects supervisors to cover any critical shift they can't find staffing for, so our supervisors have been working a LOT. A couple weeks back our supervisor T started asking the night shift what it would take for them to start picking up more shifts? The universal answer was “MORE MONEY” (we tossed out a variety of ways the supervisors could structure the extra money to make it equitable) but T just could NOT wrap their brain around the notion we were motivated by money… even going so far as to actually say out loud, “well it shouldn't be just about the money but helping your coworkers…” 🤮🤮🤮 The conversation ended awkwardly.
Last week one of our coworkers gets a mystery bonus of $100 in their paycheck and T end up revealing it as a bonus for the shift the coworker had picked up in that pay period… except there were other people who had also picked up shifts in that same pay period who didn't get a bonus! So, calling out the elephant in the room I sent an email to the supervisors asking for clarification on this new policy, the parameters, etc. The next morning our manager sends back…
“Thanks for the question, but we haven’t reached any decision. There have been a couple of individuals that have stepped up in significant ways to help their team recently that received a small reward to say thank you for their efforts. This is very similar to a reward of a paid day off we gave to an employee recently for their flexibility and their willingness to help the team in significant ways with shift coverage. If a reward becomes an expectation it is no longer a reward. It becomes an expectation. My door is always open. Please feel free to come in and chat if any of you would like.”
I reply back (and CC the whole department)…
“That makes it a bit awkward for other people who also picked up shifts in that time period (not me, but others) that didn’t get the bonus. Helping cover shifts in “significant ways” is vague and subjective. I was expecting the supervisor group would have had parameters for awarding these based on impartial criteria like shift length, day, D2 vs D1 vs Calltaker, etc. I think [company] has needed incentives for a long time to help entice shift coverage… but awarding these without transparency or universal guidelines is a step backwards in regards to employee satisfaction. If you or the supervisor group needs help brainstorming parameters I’m happy to help in any way I can?”
He replied back “ok thanks for your input.” Can't say I didn't try 🤷‍️