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Veterinary Practice News Editorial Blog:
Wednesday July 2, 2008
Lose Those Wimpy Management Skills
By Somyr McLean Perry
Managing Editor of Vetpracticenews.com and Veterinary Practice News
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Whatever happened to giving credit where credit is due? I'm continuously surprised at the management trend of withholding public praise for any given staff member for fear of hurting others' feelings.
I recently asked several veterinarian friends to nominate a support staffer they work with for recognition in an upcoming issue of our quarterly Staff magazine. One respectfully declined because he wouldn't want to make any of the other staff members mad at him for not choosing them. Another said that he would not want to select one over another because they all come from different backgrounds with different talents.
This walking on eggshells around overly sensitive employees is turning managers into wimps!
In a Time.com Q&A with Hara Estroff Marano, an editor-at-large at Psychology Today magazine, she talks about how many parents have sanitized their kids' childhoods to the point that they have no coping skills as they move into adulthood. Everyone who tries out for soccer makes the team, everyone gets an "A" for effort. Then as young adults they fall apart when faced with constructive criticism or rejection.
Now we have a generation of young employees who expect praise for everything and whine when they don't get a gold star everyday on their name tag. And now managers are afraid of them.
There has got to be some middle ground here. Is it impossible to balance respect for employees' feelings with appropriate recognition of their work? If you have five technicians, all of whom are great and wonderful employees, and one does something really neat for the hospital or a client, give her props!
Who cares if another employee pouts about it? And maybe that won't even happen.
Veterinarians and practice managers, step up! I want to hear about your outstanding support staff and how they contribute to the clinic in their own special (individual) ways. E-mail me at sperry@bowtieinc.com.
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