all for nothing

two hours of loud, animated, if not empty, discussion and explanation about careering and career path practically started out and ended in, well, silence. silence filled with meaningful, understood glances and gestures from disappointed employees. i, personally, have grown tired taking pride in my work and the company i'm working for. appreciation is good, giving out well-deserved recognitions. it sure keeps the motivation and the drive going. but drives and motivations could only do so much for a company, especially the people. without any hint of hypocrasy, just reality speaking in and of itself, what ultimately keeps people motivated to strive hard and continue showing excellence in his work is, you got it right, money. pride, recognition, lateral movements, learning of new skills are all good, nothing wrong with it, recognize people all you want, but at the end of the day, all of these become worthless, especially when the bills start pouring in. i wish i could fully understand what the management was trying to send across, some of it did make sense, but the thing is, many would simply prefer salary increase across the board over warm and, unfortunately, empty recognitions. it sure strokes the ego, but damn no good relieving an empty stomach.