What are some things partners and directors can do to boost morale while we are all remote?

likeupliftingfunny
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I honestly can’t think of anything that wouldn’t just annoy me at this point. I’m tired of virtual team events because I hate sitting at my desk longer than I need to. I still struggle with no raise/bonuses and if the firm were to spend money giving us random swag gifts it would feel like a waste/consolation prize that is still not going to help with my motivation issues.

I’m just seriously burnt out from losing every benefit of this job due to covid and remote working

likesmartfunnyuplifting

Totally agree

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Stop scheduling calls before 9 am and after 6 pm would be a great start

likefunnyupliftinghelpful

The irony of writing this comment and logging off work at 10 pm and having started at 8 am today is not lost on me.

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Recent IconRecent

I think Partners and Directors should give us care packages with lots of tasty snacks, swag and gift cards telling us how much they appreciate our work during this crazy time. (Pipedream)

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Everyone always cuts off the “who should pay” one level above themselves. It happens amongst the Partners too!

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Give you a raise or bonus, oh wait 🤦‍♂️

likesmart

This...

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At RSM they provided a holiday dinner of choice (Omaha steaks, lobster, shrimp or vegetarian and fruit options) and extra days off around Christmas - New Years.
We also got to order RSM logo present (like yeti coffee mug, hoodie or other swag of choice).
I think that all these things really make me feel better, considering that it’s been such a tough year... I know dinner at home is not the same as having a holiday party, but it was exciting to order the meal as we all talked about who ordered what and now that it’s ordered it’s exciting to wait for the package to arrive. I guess it’s cool to just talk about it with peers, connecting, not even just about the food itself.

likesmarthelpful

I mean, we also got raises and bonuses. But I don’t mind a little swag too :)

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One thing we would love is if they took away our PTO accrual and pitched it as an employee benefits, then leaked an internal email calling us entitled and boasting about how much money it would save

likefunny

I just want to know how the “carefully worded” FAQ addresses what is the “reasonable” amount of time to take off

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I may sound like a Scrooge here but...stop scheduling virtual team happy hours, holiday events, etc. I don’t want to sit on zoom for two hours making small talk, would rather just be given permission to log off a few hours early. I literally have almost ten hours of this type of event on my calendar in December. I think we’re all burnt out and not interested.

likesmart

I’m so with you on this.

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At Deloitte, the morale is completely shot in my office because:
1. No raises or CoL adjustments for non promo staff
2. Maybe 5-10% of staff that were due for regular promo were promoted so we have a lot of angry A2s and S2s.
3. They pressured a good chunk of staff to take flex work arrangement to decrease costs when COVID was taking off in Q1 2020.
4. Firm bragged about exceeding expectations and having record revenues despite the flex work pressure and lack of monetary rewards.
5. Partners talking about "recharging" at their second cottage while staff get no raises and promos with a heavier workload since we're having higher than normal attrition due to factors above.

Don't worry. Our morales will be lifted when we have a fun night of networking with your peers for our virtual holiday party. I wouldn't even be surprised if they were cheap and didn't offer any ubereats gift cards for that event.

likefunnysmart

@PwC 3: Damn, that just sounds like rubbing salt on a wound just because they want to gloat. Wrong way to boost morale if that was their intention.

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I got a 3.45% raise and a $2500 emergency payout, plus a $200 gift card to buy a monitor. I still feel my moral is low because I just miss my team mates and just venting. Money doesn’t drive me. But that’s just me.

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What firm in SA?

Personally i feel like the tough situation is that for those of us who are staying on the senior level, being told how much extra work we’re putting in to remotely onboard staff, while being put on extra projects/having more work because people are leaving, all while not getting a raise or a much lower promo raise is definitely affecting morale. Not sure what the solution is besides increasing salaries/bonuses

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100% exactly this... when I’m putting in more work and having to teach and work through everything with the new staff while remote but also taking on more work because others are leaving is mentally draining when I got a less than 1% raise this year..

likefunny

Let us expense meals once a week.  anymore than that, someone will abuse It, and we will all lose It. 😂

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I found that even just doing one on one calls to recognize people is a great morale booster. And not just a generic thank-you, perhaps highlighting some of the stuff they did or acknowledging their long hours is a good place to start. I personally felt like no one except my direct managers cared about me, especially leadership who kept dumping more and more work on me. But at the end of the day, we do need to see some sort of tangible benefit.

likesmart

Pay raise like 10%+. Everything that was good about this job was stripped from us tbh

likehelpful

If you’re gonna force us to have virtual drinks to boost morale, at least pay for our drinks

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BENJIS

likehelpfulfunny

Four day work week

likehelpful

It’s hard to say. It sucks not having the daily people interaction. Turns out the only thing I liked about work were the people. Take that out of equation then my job kinda sucks.

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Seconding hiring more staff and moving to 40 hour work weeks year round. Bring seasonal staff/interns/etc during busier times. If FedEx and Target can hire an additional 15,000 staff each Christmas I imagine Big4 can as well.

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Honestly, not too much can be done. Especially because you can’t unilaterally increase people’s pay which seems to be the main gripe. I do think a lot of small things can make a big impact. Saying thank you often (really meaning it), I enjoy those email chains where someone shares a family photo or photo of a pet or something and the whole team starts to chime in and crack jokes, truly encouraging the team to take and enjoy PTO. A think a small, personal present could go a long way too, if that’s allowed. Maybe sending along something you cooked/baked or some local favorite food item if there aren’t many dietary restrictions.

likehelpful

Give a mental health day or half day

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If you get at least half a day to do anything without work in the way, you’d feel mentally better, no? Don’t need to be depressed or anything to boost your mental health

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Well for managers/directors, if your associates are working hard and have done a lot of work and it’s close to the end of the day, let them go a bit early. It’s a really exciting thing as dumb as it sounds and associates haven’t been working very long and are already going through this.

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100%. I’ll politely strongly suggest they an early days or couple days. Spend time with family, play COD, idgaf - just log off, toggle email off on your phone and zone out.

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