Archive
By Tom Terez
Jul. 1, 1999
No, no, not that! Anything but that!”
I’ll never forget how Eric’s face turned beet red. It was supposed to be a surprise, and was it ever. Laid off? Nope. Demoted? Not at all. Shipped off to the Aleutian Islands field office? No such luck. Eric had just been named employee of the month. I’ll never forget his anguish. Yes, it was anguish! “This is what I get for being a good employee?!”
The honor (sorry for abusing the word, Eric) included a country-club lunch with the boss’ boss’ boss, a canned letter of thanks from the CEO, 30 days of having his framed picture hanging in the lobby, and a front-row parking space among the spots reserved for senior management. He actually gave the parking perk to a pregnant colleague who was sick and tired of walking the quarter mile from her usual space.
With all the subtlety of a two-by-four to the head, Eric’s story reminds us that meaningful acknowledgment is tricky business. It should be simple, right? Heck, it’s one of our first lessons in life: Say thank you. Yet we continue to turn acknowledgment into an event, distort it with extrinsic motivators, and taint it with an undercurrent of internal competition. And when we do, we end up with lots and lots of Erics.
Another friend told me about a yearly recognition ceremony at her company. The 50 “top performers” (their term) gather for a big formal dinner and a speech or two. Then each person is called to the front, where they can reach into the “treasure chest” (their term again) and pull out a surprise thank-you gift. Denise has suffered through — uh, I mean, attended — three of these events. “By the time I get a babysitter and a new outfit, this so-called recognition dinner costs me quite a few bucks,” she said. Her most recent thank-you gift? “Ceramic seashell coasters.” (long pause) “I would have preferred a baseball bat, especially at that moment.”
Then there’s the kind of acknowledgment that’s supposed to inspire people to do great things. It hardly ever does. Let’s eavesdrop as Martha, the manager of a 10-person work unit, quotes almost directly from the book “Things a Manager Should Never, Ever, Ever Say:”
Martha: Mike: Martha: Mike: Ken (whispering to Mary): Mary (back to Ken): Ken (still whispering): Mary: |
Head Muckety-Muck: Steve:Thanks, but my name is Steve, not Bob. HMM:Well, in that case, many thanks to both of you. Steve:I’m not sure anyone by that name works here. HMM (striding quickly to another high-priority meeting): |
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