President's Day and Performance
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When I was a boy, there was a holiday for Abraham Lincoln on February 12 and another for George Washington on February 22. No other president had a day in any state where we lived.
Today, all the presidents are covered by President's Day. The only people who celebrate this holiday are government workers and people who work for the banks and the postal service. They have the day off. Retailers celebrate by offering "President's Day savings."
The big problem with President's Day is that by honoring every president it doesn't honor any president. George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, and FDR are in the same bag with Andrew Johnson, Franklin Pierce and Millard Fillmore.
By not honoring any president, it becomes a day that's no different from any other day. Do you reward people the same way?
When I asked people in my programs to identify the characteristics of a great place to work, one of the things they always mentioned was "fairness." In the workplace that's not an abstract concept.
Things are fair when the consequences match up to behavior and performance for everyone all the time.
Reinforce good behavior and you get more of it. Reward above average performance and you let everyone know it's important. How you deal with "unacceptable" behavior and performance is the real message about what's important to you.
Boss's Bottom Line
Don't let your workplace become "President's Day." Reinforce good behavior. Reward superior performance. Reinforce the definition of what's acceptable and unacceptable on your team.
Wally's Working Supervisor's Support Kit is a collection of information and tools to help working supervisors do a better job. It's based on what Wally's learned in over twenty years of supervisory skills training. Click here to check it out.
Categories: Great Working Environment,Leadership
Tags: Leadership
It boils down to one line.
It is not about treating people equally. It is about treating them fairly.
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Nice summary, Mel. Thanks.
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Wally,
Thanks for stabbing at mediocrity. One way to rise about average is constant feedback.
We change our world if when we see it - we say it.
Thanks for your Blog
Leadership Freak
Dan Rockwell
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Thanks for adding your comment and link, Dan.
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Nice post, Wally. Reminds me of the line from the movie "The Incredibles" -- "If everyone is special, then no one is."
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Exactly, Derek.
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That's a wonderfully clever post! I'll never think of President's Day in the same way again. I read recently that treating everyone, both high and low performers, the same is a huge demotivator. If the slackers get the same recognition/praise/perks, why try harder?
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There's actually good news and bad news on that one, Heath. Most of the top performers continue to put out the effort. They do so because it's their work ethic. That's the good news. The bad news is that they're also the ones most likely to leave and take their talent and work ethic somewhere else if they don't feel that people are treated (and rewarded) fairly.
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Wally-
Good read, thanks for sharing.
I think today’s manager is afraid to keep things fair for all in terms of rewarding those with superior performance. It is much easier and less messy to praise the whole group. I’ve worked in a “Presidents Day” environment and found it to be extremely unfulfilling and lacking the productively to be successful. All “President’s Day” does is let your employees know they can slack off and others will pick up the slack.
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Thanks for coming by and sharing your experience. One friend of mine calls the environment you describe "Everybody gets a trophy."
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