We received some frightening responses to our recent request for your recognition horror stories. Here’s a humorous one that many of you have probably seen played out at some point in your career:
I work for an insurance company in the Boston area. I recently attended a department meeting with about 75 or so fellow employees. A presentation regarding upcoming proposals, changes, and an outlook on how the company was doing was followed by an awards presentation for certain employees who had worked here for 30, 25, and 10 years. They each received some sort of arrangement of flowers in a decorative vase and were called up individually to receive their award. However, the presentation consisted of calling out each employee’s name, a handshake from management, and the word “Congratulations.“ No mention of who these people were, what they did at the company, or any tribute to their dedication and devotion to the company. I half expected management to call out—“Here’s yer flowers…see you in another 30 years.“
A few weeks later, a memo was sent around saying that our company was entered in a newspapers’ “Top 100 Places to Work” in the state, and that we would all be asked to anonymously answer surveys. I can only imagine how the award recipients, and others who witnessed the event, will respond to the survey! It seems we’d be more likely to win “Top 100 Places to Get Away from Before You Spend The Rest of Your Lives There Underappreciated!“
-Brent in Boston
Good luck, Brent. I suggest you send a copy of The Carrot Principle to your upper management before the next awards presentation. You never know…
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