There are still some good managers out there!

[Lisa99]

I just had my very final 'annual review' of my working career. These little meetings are usually a non-event but I'm floored at what just happened.

I've volunteered to be laid off on January 11 (my company is letting 30k people go). Since I'm being released I had no expectations of a bonus.

I just learned that my manager (he's a Sr. VP) awarded me a $10,000 bonus for a special project that I was on this year and another 5% of my salary as an 'annual bonus'. 5% might not seem like much but to get anything in our tech company is the exception and for him to give it to me when he knows he's laying me off which will give me severance is a pleasant surprise!

So I guess there are still some good guys out there!!

 

[ziggy29]

I just learned that my manager (he's a Sr. VP) awarded me a $10,000 bonus for a special project that I was on this year and another 5% of my salary as an 'annual bonus'. 5% might not seem like much but to get anything in our tech company is the exception and for him to give it to me when he knows he's laying me off which will give me severance is a pleasant surprise!

Nice! Is this a privately held company? I have a hard time believing any business accountable to Wall Street would allow this.

 

[audreyh1]

I just had my very final 'annual review' of my working career. These little meetings are usually a non-event but I'm floored at what just happened.

I've volunteered to be laid off on January 11 (my company is letting 30k people go). Since I'm being released I had no expectations of a bonus.

I just learned that my manager (he's a Sr. VP) awarded me a $10,000 bonus for a special project that I was on this year and another 5% of my salary as an 'annual bonus'. 5% might not seem like much but to get anything in our tech company is the exception and for him to give it to me when he knows he's laying me off which will give me severance is a pleasant surprise!

So I guess there are still some good guys out there!!

Nice! Especially nice as a sendoff!

 

[Lisa99]

Nice! Is this a privately held company? I have a hard time believing any business accountable to Wall Street would allow this.

No, it's a Fortune 50 tech company but it gives its senior leaders complete discretion on how they use their bonus budget.

 

[Lisa99]

Nice! Especially nice as a sendoff!

Agree! Especially since I'm getting severance in January when I'm released.

 

[audreyh1]

Agree! Especially since I'm getting severance in January when I'm released.

Wow! So this was icing on the cake!

 

[Free To Canoe]

Great news! Congrats on your ER. You are worth every penny!

 

[Souschef]

Congrats!

 

[Meadbh]

Congratulations Lisa!

 

[youbet]

Agree! Especially since I'm getting severance in January when I'm released.

Nice on your part too! Let's face it, the typical employee has one thought in mind during their final months with an employer regardless of how well they've been treated over their career. That is how can they maximize their own situation and screw the employer. You, OTOH, did an outstanding job on your project. No wonder your manager rewarded you! You're one in a zillion! I'm glad it's working out as a win-win situation!

 

[LOL!]

Maybe your Sr VP is also leaving the company.

 

[Clone]

I have a hard time believing any business accountable to Wall Street would allow this.

Where I worked we were allowed to bank unused vacation, up to 10 days each year. You could borrow some back if you needed to. When you retired, you had the option of taking pay for those days, or you could tack them on to your last day in the office to extend out the last day with the company.

I had a significant amount of days banked when I retired. My last day in the office had come and gone, but the 'vacationing out' days carried me past the day when raises were handed out. Of all the stupid things, they gave me a 3% raise (or something like that). The difference in pay for a few months was trivial, and it did not affect my pension calculation in a significant manner. But it did come out of the raise budget, and thus somebody else could have had a bit more.

Oh well!

 

[pb4uski]

He is a good manager. It must have been that you have done some good work and he feels that you deserve it and that the firm owes you. I'll admit that in a similar situation that I would tilt the benefits to those who would be with me going forward while at the same time trying not to noticeably shortchange those who were leaving.

 

[eytonxav]

Well it looks like Santa came early for you, congrats and this shows hard work does pay off!

 

[Big_Hitter]

Nice! Is this a privately held company? I have a hard time believing any business accountable to Wall Street would allow this.

If publicly traded companies didn't offer competitive compensation packages they would go out of business.

Congrats to OP!

 

[marko]

I have a hard time believing any business accountable to Wall Street would allow this.

Ours was a public company "accountable to Wall St" and things like this were a very common practice.

You need to attract and retain good people in order to remain in "Wall Street's" good graces. Our company was quite forward looking and provided some unheard of benefits and perks.

And yes, we were the world/industry leader in what we did, thanks at least in part to our aforementioned ability to attract the best in class people.

 

[walkinwood]

Congrats!
So what are you going to do with the windfall?

 

[Danmar]

This was fairly common at my employer. I regularly gave good bonuses (if deserved) to people who were retiring. My employer would always give the employee the benefit of any discretion in these types of circumstances. Contrary to what many people think, there are many great organizations and management out there. Not all, but quite a few.

 

[powerplay]

Congratulations! This is a very nice way to wrap up a career and get ready to enjoy retirement.

 

[Willers]

If publicly traded companies didn't offer competitive compensation packages they would go out of business.

Congrats to OP!

+1. I think this is more about the management mindset than the business classification. I've seem generous and cheap in public and private.

Good for you Lisa and don't forget to spend some of the bonus on something fun...!

 

[dtbach]

Don't reinvest all of it! Use 10% (hey it's "found" money right) to treat yourself to something amazing like a hot balloon ride or something. I speak from experience as my wife got a little windfall once and I was just going to "dump" it into our investments. She said "no way" and we went for a 4 day weekend to Napa Valley in a nice little Bed and Breakfast with a balloon ride included. 25 years later we still talk about it. We never talk about money I re-invested. Just a thought.

 

[mpeirce]

There are many (well, at least some...) good managers out there.

Mine was very helpful in letting me manage my exit (I gave him plenty of warning). I left in January so I could put some more money into the 401(k) and have the company fund their share of my HSA and other things. The big deal was splitting cashing in my options between the December and January (two different tax years). That was worth significant tax savings to me.

Finally, at my last review, I pointed out that I really had no use for the RSAs they were going to award me (they wouldn't vest), so please give them others members of the team. They did.

 

[Al in Ohio]

That is terrific to hear. I would definitely follow up with a heartfelt thank you note. Encourage the possibility of it happening again for somebody else who deserves it too.


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