Make Employee Praise Worthy, Not Worthless

Do you ever just say to yourself, “Am I going crazy, or is the whole world nuts?” This happened to me recently as I was reading an article a couple weeks ago in an issue of the Wall St. Journal, titled, “The Most Praised Generation Goes to Work. ”

The article discusses the culture of praise that has been heaped upon the latest generation of twenty-somethings. From parents and teachers who see their job as building self-esteem to soccer coaches who make sure every player gets a trophy, the need to lavish praise on young adults who might wither under an unfamiliar compliment deficit has crept into the workplace.

As the article states, “Employers are dishing out kudos to workers for little more than showing up. Corporations including Lands’ End and Bank of America are hiring consultants to teach managers how to compliment employees using email, prize packages and public displays of appreciation. The 1,000 employee Scooter Store Inc., in New Braunfels, Texas has a staff ‘Celebrations assistant’ whose job it is to throw confetti – 25 pounds a week – at employees. She also passes out 100 to 500 celebratory helium balloons a week (Author’s note: You can’t make this stuff up. Can you imagine a company who’s willing to admit they pay someone to pass out balloons and throw confetti?).The Container Store Inc. estimates that one of its 4,000 employees receives praise every 20 seconds, through such efforts as its “Celebration Voice Mailboxes.”

Aside from the social and psychological ramifications of this insanity (psychologists agree that adults who were overpraised as children tend to be narcissistic at work and in personal relationships). They’re also lousy at basking in other people’s glory, which makes for problems in work and marriage relationships. How can a company develop outstanding performers out of people whose egos are so fragile?

Don’t get me wrong, I’m a big believer in encouraging and recognizing employee achievement, but the key word here is achievement. No company or organization can survive when doing the minimum (showing up) is considered praiseworthy. Companies succeed because of the many people who constantly go above and WAY beyond the minimum. Praise and recognition lose its value when it’s too easy to achieve; leaving no incentive to go way beyond the minimum.

But here’s a bigger problem: we all know that experience is the best teacher, because it gives us the opportunity to make mistakes, and all successful people will tell you that you learn from your mistakes. However, we only learn from our mistakes because there are other people (managers, peers, co-workers, friends), who can point out our mistakes and show us how to correct them.

How can you, as a manager, business owner, executive or leader possibly be expected to correct the mistakes of people who are so used to being praised for every insignificant accomplishment? When the slightest criticism, no matter how warranted, will send them screaming to the nearest therapy session? If you can’t be told you made a mistake, how can you ever avoid making the same mistakes over and over again?

Don’t make praise meaningless, make it worth something.