Compliment in Public, Criticize in Private
A good friend of mine works as a waitress in an upscale restaurant. Her boss likes to employ what he calls “fresh talks” every morning, which he utilizes to help instruct and manage the staff. On paper, it sounds like a good practice. However, there’s one major problem; he also uses the time to point out things that people are doing wrong, and makes examples of them.
“I had a problem with a table the day before,” she lamented. ”and went to him for help. I’ll admit I was upset, but I knew that going to my manager for help was the right thing to do. The next day, sure enough, he talked about a server who got ‘flustered’ by a customer, and proceeded to talk about exactly what she had done wrong in front of everyone.
“He didn’t mention me by name, but everyone knew who he was talking about. It was so embarrassing. I was furious - why would he do that to me?”
I don’t have a good answer for that question, and it’s baffling to me that managers still do things like this. Does this guy think that she’ll ever feel comfortable going back to him with a problem again? How many employees has he lost through this kind of behavior?
“Compliment in Public, Criticize in Private” is a business basic; pure common sense. If there’s a problem, call the employee into your office (politely and confidentially), and rationally discuss the situation. Conversely, a good deed is what should be brought up in a daily team meeting. Positive recognition will make a person take more pride and care in their work, and it will be reflected in the courtesy they show your customers.
Incidentally, that same restaurant manager apparently spent over 2 hours last week trying to persuade a hostess that was tired of working for him not to quit. What a stunner! I’m sure that’s completely unrelated to the nature of those “fresh talks”…
Compliment in Public, Criticize in Private
June 25th, 2007 at 3:06 am
I think those bosses who still do it will only understand the situation when they have a taste of the same humiliation as what their employees experienced.
June 25th, 2007 at 9:32 pm
We can’t blame the employees for quiting if their boss is always doing that. Once would be acceptable, but several times is not an excuse.
October 8th, 2008 at 4:44 pm
[...] little kindness goes a long way. Correct and criticize with respect, and preferably behind closed doors. Don’t attack the person (”You obviously don’t pay attention to detail, John”); instead, critique [...]
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