Recognition . . . or humiliation?
I was out in Portland, Maine last week, doing a short in-house seminar on intranets for a Belgium holding company that owns a bunch of supermarket chains in the northeast part of the country.
When I walked into the reception area, there were three receptionists there, all working closely together. My client wasn't quite ready for me, so I had a chance to look at all the corporate stuff on the walls—posters, mission statements, values statements, corporate vision . . . you know all the regular stuff.
There was also a poster of three women on the wall that I barely glanced at. But something about it nagged at me . . . like I had seen it before. So I walked over and gave it a careful look.
The caption said, 'Our receptionists are world class.' And it was a photo of the three women at the desk! With complimentary quotes from customers. This wasn't some low-rent poster, either. It was a professional-quality marketing poster.
I thought that was pretty cool . . . and I mentioned it to the women.
'Hey,' I said. 'That's you guys! You're like celebrities!'
'Oh, God,' one of them moaned.
'I wish they would take that stupid thing down,' said another.
They hated the poster!! Which I found ironic. I'm sure the Powers That Be thought they were recognizing superior performance and giving the receptionists a nice shot in the arm. And they hated it!
Which leads me to ask the question: How many times are we inadvertently embarrassing employees when we try to call attention to them?
Comments (6)
The poster idea is kind of over the top if you ask me. We have a quarterly employee recognition program, where the CEO presents various awards for outstanding performance at employee meeting. I think in general, and based on feedback we have received, everyone likes to be recognized by his or her peers in this type of setting. The cash awards are nice too. We then post a picture of the winners along with a description of why they received the award on the company Intranet.
Now, I am not saying that all companies can go to the lengths we do, but it sure helps to motivate and make it fun. I think if this company put a little more in those secretaries’ paychecks, I’m sure they’d learn to love that poster : )
Posted by Mark DiJulio | November 23, 2004 11:20 AM
Posted on November 23, 2004 11:20
DATE: 11/23/2004 08:52:9P PM
I'm going to go out on a limb here. If our purpose is to deliver strategic business tools, does it matter if a featured employee is embarrassed by the attention? We recognize employees by identifying specific steps they took to help the company. This serves to inspire high performance, unite the company, shape accurate perceptions, convey our identity, and drive business. If their stories can meet these objectives, they're usually proud to be recognized for doing something substantial. But even if they're embarrassed by it, the story will still have value and purpose for everyone else to apply, which is our ultimate goal.
What was the purpose of the poster? Who reads these comments from customers? If the purpose was recognition, to your point, a simple "thanks" might have been more effective. I wonder how these women might have felt about an article that profiled how their "world class" service conveyed the identity of the company and helped the bottom line. It might have shown that the company took their efforts seriously and realized their strategic importance, which might have been something to be proud of.
Posted by Carmen RH | October 16, 2006 4:30 PM
Posted on October 16, 2006 16:30
DATE: 11/23/2004 13:13:4P PM
Right on, Carmen!
Employee recognition that is for the sole purpose of making happy just the employees being recognized is usually wasted effort. Employee recognition should be designed to motivate ALL employees by showing the winners as exemplars of what management is talking about when it talks about excellence in service, innovation, professionalism, ethics, etc.
In fact, good recognition almost ALWAYS embarrasses the employees it recognizes. Who wants to be seen as an model employee, when it's so much easier to be seen as one of the guys--or in the case of that poster, one of the girls?
Carmen, at the risk of embarrassing you, would that ALL communicators were as tough-minded and straight thinking as you.
Posted by David Murray | October 16, 2006 4:30 PM
Posted on October 16, 2006 16:30
DATE: 11/23/2004 30:35:8P PM
Given that I agree with all the comments above, I'd also suggest that the fact that the receptionists said they wished the poster would come down doesn't mean they really do. A lot of people pretend embarrassment when they really feel pride. I wonder how they'd feel if the poster really DID come down.
Posted by Shel Holtz | October 16, 2006 4:30 PM
Posted on October 16, 2006 16:30
DATE: 11/24/2004 28:64:0P PM
It's been my experience that people who may feel pride in their jobs and their abilities may not be able to translate that into pride about photographs of themselves circulating widely. Some people are just camera-shy. Besides, it must be a bit uncomfortable, having you staring at yourself all day. I don't even like looking at the picture of me on my mom's fridge, all I can think about is my gargantuan nose and messy hair. We are, after all, our own worst critics.
Posted by Sarah Stanek | October 16, 2006 4:30 PM
Posted on October 16, 2006 16:30
DATE: 11/29/2004 81:81:3A PM
I would have to agree with Shel Holtz. If I were one of those receptionists, I would also groan with embarrassment, much as I might do if someone was telling me I was beautiful. If the customer testimonials are sincere, then the receptionists must be proud of the public acknowledgement of their efforts - especially for a job role that is usually overlooked.
Posted by Marcie Montague | October 16, 2006 4:30 PM
Posted on October 16, 2006 16:30