Pinnacles It's not hard to be a cynic when the organisation you work for stuffs you with sugary foods and beer, at the same time handing out laminated A4 sheets to celebrate the achievements of individuals.

Once a month here we're all herded into a meeting room where a table covered with donuts, lamingtons and fruits awaits us. Then a guy an executive in a blue shirt (no tie) and slacks reads out the list of people celebrating their birthday during the month. Fortunately there's no group signing of 'Happy Birthday'.

Then he reads out the names of those of us who have been nominated for a 'Pinnacle Award'. These awards come in three Tiers - Tier 1 gets you a laminated A4 certificate, Tier 2 gets you a framed certificate and gift voucher, and Tier 3 gets you $10,000.

I don't know what you have to do to get $10,000, but I intend to find out.

As I said it's not hard to be a cynic. Think about how much a good employee is worth to an organisation, and then measure it against a laminated A4 certificate. Still, it's better than some places, where they don't even attempt to motivate their employees at all.  ¶ 11:59 AM