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We have this monthly, quarterly, half-yearly and annual rewards and recognition program in our company. It is awarded based on performance, merit and value brought to the project/customer/company.

Despite performing consistently (and better than some of my peers), self-learning a bunch of UI frameworks, implementing a few Process Simplification tools that I wholly designed and developed, conducting 4-5 training sessions every quarter, I don't seem to have made an impact. I feel I am being left out in the Rewards & Recognition program. While other team managers regularly recognize their team members, my team manager seems to avoid awards completely, which is frustrating. People who have joined the company much later have already won more than 2-3 awards on an average for their contributions that (in my opinion) weigh much lesser than mine(or my team's).

Therefore, how do I talk to my manager about this situation?

P.S: So far, I haven't initiated any sort of discussions with my manager because I feel rewards & recognition are something that should come automatically and not by asking for them explicitly. I am looking for suggestions that would relieve me of my dilemma(Whether to ask or not to ask?)

Edit: This question has been identified as possible duplicate of another question which asks about the importance of gaining visibility. However, my problem is that even though I have enough visibility (even at client level), I don't seem to be picked for monthly/quarterly rewards and recognition and how to talk to my manager about it. hopefully this explains

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    Is there a monetary value associated with these awards? If not, I'd consider them worth what they are worth (nothing). If there is monetary value to them, I'd bring it up with your boss as more of a question along the lines "I'd like to work towards these recognition bonuses. What could I do to be closer to earning one?"
    – DA.
    Commented Dec 8, 2015 at 5:53
  • @DA. That really deserves to be turned into an answer, even if the OP doesn't respond.
    – Lilienthal ♦
    Commented Dec 8, 2015 at 10:10
  • @DA - Thanks. That was a very pertinent question. Yes. All the rewards have monetary value associated with it. More than monetary value, the rewards get listed publicly in our internal collaboration platform, which boosts our morale very much. I am planning to initiate the discussion during my quarterly retrospective that falls on the last week of December.
    – BiscuitBoy
    Commented Dec 8, 2015 at 13:50
  • 2
    Possible duplicate of Why is it important to gain "visibility" in the workplace?
    – gnat
    Commented Dec 8, 2015 at 20:28
  • @DA The monetary part of the award isn't the significant part of the award. It's the recognition from outside the awardee's department that these kind of awards bring that's important.
    – DLS3141
    Commented Dec 8, 2015 at 22:38

3 Answers 3

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Nothing comes automatically, usually. If it is important for you, make it know to the decider. He might think that as you're asking nothing, you're not expecting anything.

Either your manager thinks awards are awkwards, like Joel Spolsky, or he didn't think about it. Either way, as long as you don't ask, you won't know. If he thinks it's a bad thing, and then sees his best performer complain about it, he might change his mind, and if he just didn't think about it, a simple reminder could do a lot.

And be sure to meditate DA's advice : is there any underlying value to this awards, besides prestige? Money, or career advance, or something valuable like that?

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Whether to ask or not to ask?

Ask, if you feel you and your team deserve it then by all means give your manager a nudge. It sounds like you have a manager who isn't very interested in team morale, this needs to change for obvious reasons.

But if you don't ask, you'll get nothing except a bitter taste in your mouth every time others quite rightly and proudly brag about their rewards. At the very least it will start the manager thinking about it. The positives outweigh any possible negatives (I can't actually think of any). You're not asking for anything out of the ordinary, the company already has a reward system in place. You and the team should be benefiting from it.

How to ask? I'd just be straight up about it when I get a chance, ask him/her straight out politely why you and your team never get any rewards like others do. Is it because those rewards don't apply to your team? Is your team underperforming? Stuff like that. Put the onus on the manager politely to explain why. Don't be confrontational, pose the questions as if you're asking for guidance to improve performance.

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Asking would be the right thing to do.Because rewards are not just "Rewards", they are your motivation for next contribution.The best way to have your work recognized is by discussing your results. And by making sure your boss knows how you like to be recognized.

Being more interactive among the team is also one of the way of letting your Employer know that you are performing well. Perhaps, the below link that I came across, might help you.

https://www.experience.com/alumnus/article?channel_id=diversity&source_page=tory_johnson&article_id=article_1185307382302

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