Hello everyone!
So, I’m still buzzing from our small yet lively get-together in Cambridge last Friday - it was certainly the highlight of my week! 
I have to admit, this is the sort of thing that reminds me why being a community manager is so great. You get to meet new people who are fascinating and a joy to be around! 
Our first ever community meet-up in Cambridge was supposed to focus on rewards vs. recognition. However, we were chatting and laughing for a full hour before we remembered the topic. 
The time absolutely flew, with all of us determined to put together more meet-ups like this in the future. Here are some takeaways from our discussion that stuck with me:
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@JHBEM made the fascinating point that rewards tend to focus on transactional exchanged (hit this specific target, get this specific reward). However, rewards tend to struggle to encourage more complex things like creativity and innovation.
@HRJoy and@JHBEM both made the point that a culture that encourages praise is important to establish early on. However, it’s also important to know how people prefer to be praised (publicly vs. in private).@Majid added a thought-provoking insight from his vast experience of working with huge companies. He noted that companies with flat hierarchies tend to work better with praise, while those with more vertical hierarchies tend to prefer a rewards-based culture. Interestingly, Majid observes that this has to do with a quirk in huge, vertically structured companies: there’s an emphasis on accountability at the top.
Guys, I’m sure I missed some stuff, which you can remind me of in the comments! 
For the rest of our dear UK-based community, we’ll be hosting more events soon, so stay tuned.
And if you’re thinking you’d like to host a similar event (with lunch courtesy of Personio, of course) let us know here!