Employee Recognition Run Amuck

In response to my article about banning employee of the month forms of recognition, a reader wrote that he got his B.S. in Human Resources working for organizations like the one he describes.

Keith said, “Your article made me think. I worked at a place where Employee of the Month (EOTM) was rotated through staff, not based on anything else – just a rotation. The only real "perk" to winning was owning the EOTM parking spot next to the building for a month.

”Parking was really hard to find, so this was an appreciated perk - except by those of us who worked nights (more than half the staff) who had no problems finding parking spots after usual business hours. One night, an upper level manager came in and demanded to know who was in "his" parking spot. It was his turn to have the EOTM spot and he didn't want anyone else in it, even if he didn't work nights. His own reserved spot was maybe 50 feet further away from the door. Word got around pretty fast and the EOTM program went away.”

Do you have a story about recognition gone astray? Add it to comments, or email me.

_{Image Copyright Nuna Silva}