Awards are Bullshit
medium.com
medium.com
> You’ll know because your peers have told you so.
One way they tell you is, you know, with an award.
> You’ll know because your employees are happy.
As a counter-example, consider someone who internally blows the whistle. Often that person will be snubbed as being disloyal, even if the end result saves the company money and keeps it out of legal trouble. One of the best practices is the company to give a 'meaningful reward or recognition for legitimate whistleblowers'. (Quoting http://corporatecomplianceinsights.com/problems-with-the-cur... ).
This sort of award can be oil for troubled waters.
> If you are doing great work. You are doing great work. Period.
No. Period.
McConnell's "Rapid Development" has a chapter on programmer motivation, and a section titled "Rewards and Incentives". Quotes from it:
> "Developers grow tired of working for unappreciative companies, and rewards are therefore important to long-term motivation. But monetary rewards have to be handled carefully. ... It's also important to present any reward purely as a gesture of appreciation rather than an incentive ... The work itself is the greatest motivator, and the more a manager stresses an external reward, the less interested the developer becomes in the work itself, and the more potential motivation is lost.
> Here are some possible gestures of appreciation that are often appropriate: [I've abbreviated the list]
* Sincere praise directed at a specific accomplishment
* Humorous or series awards in the form of plaques, certificates,
trophies, and the like
* Special events to celebrate significant accomplishments
Under "Morale Killers", McConnell includes "Lack of appreciation for development's efforts" and "Heavy-handed motivational campaigns".
It's easier for me to believe this author considers these awards to be "heavy-handed" than to agree with the conclusion that awards are bullshit.