Ask HN: Is public praise a worthwhile quest?

[ironmagma]

Managers are frequently asking how we like to be shown appreciation. My general sense is that from a corporation which lacks emotion or psychology of any kind, the only real expression of appreciation is in payment. As such, the public praise thing has always seemed to me to be a diversion to distract from the fact that you’re not really getting a raise. Maybe I am wrong though — is there any actual value in public praise over, say private praise?

[movedx]

> My general sense is that from a corporation which lacks emotion or psychology of any kind, the only real expression of appreciation is in payment

This makes me sad to read.

It makes me sad because it implies you're working in jobs that see you has a tool, the proverbial cog amongst cogs, and nothing more.

The truth is: money, your payment in exchange for your time and labour, is simply an economic tool to facilitate our ability to obtain the things we need. The things we need can be found in Maslow's hierarchy of needs: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maslow's_hierarchy_of_needs

Without the exchange of money, we'd all suffer from the Coincidence of Wants: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coincidence_of_wants. With it we can store away value and use it later on.

As for feeling as though that the only way in which your employer can praise you: this tells me you're not working for a company that aims to serve society, but instead simply exists because it's economically advantageous to exist.

I'd argue that finding a company that wants to serve society and its people via its products and or services, as a matter of first principles, will organically grow a culture of praise for you and everyone around you.

[ironmagma → movedx]

> it implies you're working in jobs that see you has a tool, the proverbial cog amongst cogs, and nothing more.

I wouldn’t say this is so. Praise from individuals, I feel, is something I can accept as genuine, and is something I do value. Public praise? at that point the person speaking is not the person, it’s a corporation, or at least indistinguishable from a corporate message.