One of my favorite things about working with Awesome Technician is that we give each other non-ironic praise or sympathy, depending on the situation. For example, if the finicky instrument breaks down and she spends a few days fixing it, I tell her what a great job she did. She’s expected to do the work and do it right, so she didn’t go above and beyond her duty, but it was good work nonetheless. I also thank her whenever she does something for me. Usually, the things she does are her job, but I could certainly do them myself and I know that in some labs, I would not have the luxury of a technician performing instrument maintenance, for example. By the same token, if things aren't going well, I give her sincere sympathy. She does the same for me.
I heard this story on NPR’s Morning Edition, which talks about how young people expect to be valued as special snowflakes, their morale slumping if their bosses don’t praise their performance on everyday tasks. When they grew up, everyone – not just the winner -- got a ribbon just for trying. I’m not sure I really feel that way myself. I’m a little older than the people in the story and my childhood soccer team certainly didn’t get a trophy just for playing. But it’s nice to work in a positive environment, especially in an industry with so much very-delayed gratification.
About Me
- EcoGeoFemme
- I am a 6th year PhD student in the earth/life sciences. While I love science as a vocation and intellectual pursuit, I get frustrated with what it means to have a job as a scientist, especially as a woman. I am freaked out by my impending two-body problem and being a scientist with children someday. I am an advocate of lowering what we expect one person to do together with really working while at work so that 40-45 hours of it is sufficient. Enough is as good as a feast!
Email me!
Recurring characters
crummy, tedious, boring, dirty task
Labels
- advice (1)
- advisors (7)
- blogging (12)
- conferences (6)
- consumerism (1)
- delayed gratification (13)
- economical academic (1)
- environmentalism (1)
- family (5)
- fatigue (2)
- fun (22)
- grad school (12)
- guilt (11)
- it's all about me (23)
- jobs (6)
- lab dynamics (8)
- labwork (10)
- Lost (3)
- meet-up (1)
- mem (1)
- meme (9)
- money (2)
- movies (1)
- NYR (7)
- pants (2)
- plants (2)
- procrastination (6)
- project efficiency (9)
- reading (1)
- scientiae-carnival (8)
- self exploration (15)
- sexism (4)
- silliness (11)
- The System (12)
- travel (3)
- whining (11)
- women-in-science (12)
- work (11)
- writing (20)
Blogs I Frequent
9 comments:
I find in any case things work better when people feel their work is appreciated. I have often seen admin staff/techs/IT guys being treated like slaves, whereas actually we couldn't cope without them, and when one is really working well, you don't want them to feel like that's being unnoticed. That's definitely something I'm careful about. And being as ignorant as I am for accounts and administration, I get many opportunities to thank them for the patience and their help...
Oh, Johnny, you're so special!!!
GAG.
I, like stepwise girl, am a firm believer that employees need to feel appreciated and valued if they are going to remain loyal to the company and do a good job. However, overabundant praise makes the praise less meaningful and is also a waste of time.
Glad you treat your technician well. I treat mine well, too, and from the get-go he was amazed that I wasn't barking orders. There's no point in such things.
I'm with candid engineer--while praise for doing a good job does make the workplace more pleasant, giving out ribbons or awarding someone an Employee of the Day plaque is absurd (IMHO).
Actually, that mindset makes me worry about my undergrads more than my grads or techs in the department. Although I've been pretty lucky at XU, I do sort of worry that they're going to want positive recognition just for showing up to class or taking the exam, which is just not what college is about. I'm happy to work with people who need attention, but they have to come to me to let me know they need help, and that doesn't seem like it's part of the equation (according to stories like that NPR one).
I don't think people want to be told their special or anything, but I do like it acknowledged especially when I go above and beyond the call of duty. Nothing special, but a "thank you" goes very far.
Sure, there can be too much of such things, but like many thing it's a matter of striking the right balance. As arduous says, "thank you" does a lot already.
We say thanks to the cashier at the store, even though they are only doing their job. Why would we treat our own colleagues worse? Besides, I like being nice to people.
Just to clarify, AT isn't my technician, but rather a tech with whom I work quite closely. And I hope it was clear that I think the gratuitous blue ribbons and Employee of the Day are bullshit! I just like the positive atmosphere in our lab and I think what makes it work is that the praise is genuine.
I think I heard the same NPR broadcast, or read something similar to it. Sometimes I've worried that I may also be a weak "praise junkie." I wondered about this, because my former postdoc supervisor was a reserved and distant person and very very sparing of praise. I thought, "Is it a weakness in *me* that I should want to be praised for the work I do?" But then I heard a few other people in the lab complaining about the same thing. I realize now, of course, that every supervisor is different, and fairness in a supervisor is more important than warmth and fuzziness.
But praise helps with the morale. No question. No need to praise every silly little thing, but just a few words at the right time can go such a long way. I will say that workplaces where people feel valued are much happier than places where they do not feel valued.
I tend to thank our Undergrad Dishwasher for doing the dishes. It's her job description, but when I'm making a lot of dishes I think it's appropriate to thank her. So while I'm not going to gush over how well she does the dishes, I'm going to say thanks when I've single-handedly doubled the normal amount of dishes she has to do.
Post a Comment