Before getting to work, employees gather for daily recognition. The supervisor gets up and says,
Today, we’re going to recognize a few people for their outstanding achievements of late. Bob, great job coming to work on time! We all appreciate that. Susan, excellent work meeting that deadline. We gave you plenty of time and you came through! Last but not least, Johnny — I asked you to write a report and you did it! Excellent!
A story the other morning on NPR showed that, ridiculous as it might be, such things are going on all over the States.
Companies are hiring consultants to help manage the “over praised” Me Generation. […] Forget Employee of the Month — how about Employee of the Day! Some managers are resistant, saying the only praise they ever got was a paycheck. (NPR)
The commentator — herself a twenty-something — mentioned that the Me Generation has grown up in an environment where parents are terrified that their kids are not going to develop self-esteem, so they praise them to death
The results, it seems, are quite the opposite. We seem to have a generation that can’t cope without constant praise. Instead of raising strong, independent people, these parents have created kudos-holics: people who can’t — or won’t — function without praised heaped on daily.
It’s kind of … odd … that I haven’t run into these people. I wonder if it’s not a figment of the previous “me” generation’s imagination (the baby boomers).
Perhaps there are those who praise others because they see the hurt many carry around because they could never please their parents or get their attention no matter what they did. It is carried into the workplace and the employers are trying to help them. We humans often error in missing the center of the road, going from one ditch to another but at least there are those who try to “drive between the white lines”.
Thud — I heard it on NPR so it must be true! Seriously, though, I don’t know if it’s a widespread phenomenon. I personally have never encountered it either, but then again, I have only worked at a handful of places in the States.
NWS — If they didn’t get praise somewhere else, it’s good that they’re getting it at work. But the story as presented at NPR are those who are addicted to praise (my words). One of the individuals interviewed was given some kind of award for going above and beyond. Her response: “I don’t think I did anything to deserve an award. I was simply doing my job.”
If someone meets a tight deadline that’s been shortened several times, or successfully dealt with a client who’s constantly changing specs for some project, or found a way to save the company lots of money, or worked 60-hour weeks for an extended time to get some project done — those things deserve recognition. But continual praise for simply fulfilling the basic requirements of your job’s description? That seems excessive to me.
Wall Street Journal had a good series on that a couple months back.
I find when you work for a bunch of people that have bought into that philosophy sometimes its like being stuck in a daycare center
I can imagine it would.
Personally, I’d find such praise-a-thons to be demeaning and irritating. I think it would be much easier to get to work on time and meet deadlines if I knew I wouldn’t have to sit through something like this in the morning and have it take up valuable time I could be using to soar above and beyond by fulfilling my basic responsibilities.