re: How not to motivate your employees - CEO of Herman Miller/Knoll

I don’t disagree with her at all. But man that was a change in tone

The boom at the end made me laugh though. Like a movie caricature.

Think it is a generational thing.

"Older" employees have a different way of taking that type of message from "younger" employees

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I see no problem with what she said. The fact that so many seem to be bothered by this speaks volumes about our current culture and lack of work ethic.

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We just don’t know enough about the situation to judge. Her bonus might be tied to an increase in the number of widgets sold. She could have been part of an executive team that bought a somewhat smaller widget maker company for an outrageous price, thereby doubling the amount of widgets sold. The company is left in a financially dangerous situation that will increase the debt the company carries by five times.

Fast forward a few years and she’s part of a team that sells the acquired company for pennies on the dollar but she got rid of a chunk of the company’s debt so she earns another big bonus.

Some people can't handle the truth.

She went a bit far towards the end, but I'd rather have someone be straight with me than blow smoke up my rear.

I had a boss that gave a speech like that once, with a few more expletives. He wasn't angry with the people who worked for him but rather those above him who had put us in a near impossible position. About 1/3 of the team checked out after the meeting, the other 2/3s got it done. You learn who you want to be in a foxhole with when things get tough.

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I saw this shite during Covid, partners complaining about productivity from their second houses in the mountains while their employees were stuck in apartments with roommates just trying to get through the day. I

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Imagine seeing that on zoom calls while you were still going to work every single day, on site.

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But for some reason you gloss over that she (and presumably the rest of the executive team) received their bonuses.

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I didn’t gloss over it, I just don’t know it to be true, and apparently you don’t either, hence “presumably”

But let’s assume that’s true: Are you of the opinion that if executives, say a CEO, qualify for a bonus or stock options, they should forgo those bonuses if other employees don’t qualify for their bonuses - even if the criteria and triggers may be completely unconnected?

Managers and sales personnel are often bonused on meeting sales goals, profit levels or budgetary plans.

A CEO could be rewarded based on stock price targets, acquisitions or completely non-monetary thresholds like meeting diversity goals or even just hitting an anniversary date.

So it’s not out of the ordinary for executive bonuses and management/sales bonuses to not always be aligned.

and that very well may be true

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But let’s assume that’s true: Are you of the opinion that if executives, say a CEO, qualify for a bonus or stock options, they should forgo those bonuses if other employees don’t qualify for their bonuses - even if the criteria and triggers may be completely unconnected?

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She’s the one complaining about a budget shortfall so yes she and the rest the supposed leaders should do just that. Lead.


The criteria and triggers suck if things are so bad that normally given employee bonuses are cancelled company wide but the execs still qualify for 7 figure bonuses.

They lost $27 million in 2022