I read this WSJ article on praising workers and kept waiting for the aha moment or punch line -- what was this doing in the Journal? What was the point? Is this really a trend? For example:
Employers are dishing out kudos to workers for little more than showing up. Corporations including Lands' End and Bank of America are hiring consultants to teach managers how to compliment employees using email, prize packages and public displays of appreciation. The 1,000-employee Scooter Store Inc., a power-wheelchair and scooter firm in New Braunfels, Texas, has a staff "celebrations assistant" whose job it is to throw confetti -- 25 pounds a week -- at employees. She also passes out 100 to 500 celebratory helium balloons a week. The Container Store Inc. estimates that one of its 4,000 employees receives praise every 20 seconds, through such efforts as its "Celebration Voice Mailboxes."
I looked at the date on the top of the paper -- it's a do-over from April 1, right? No. More than 2,500 words later, I learned:
- Allegedly, 20 somethings are the most praised generation ever and need constant stroking or whither and crack.
- There is a huge cottage industry in telling managers how to deliver this stroking.
- There is a set of rules for constructive compliments.
- It was a slow news day at the Journal.
Seriously, the article was a strange mix of patronizing, overly broad generalizations about "the younger generation" and good advice on how to find ways to motivate a workforce. Because there are consultants and books out about this now, my guess is we'll see a review of the whole "Generation X" hype we saw 10 years ago, with advice to managers on how to work with GenX. That fizzled as this will too, because at the end of the day you can't treat people as a generation and be successful -- you have to treat them as individuals.
Still. A full page in the Journal on this. What am I missing?