The praise sandwich is a management technique which has been promoted for many years.
The concept is simple. If you have some bad feedback to deliver to an employee, then sandwich the nasty bit in amongst some positive feedback.
The supposed magic of the praise sandwich is that by hiding the nasty stuff in between high fives and handshakes, the bad feedback suddenly becomes more palatable.
Except that in reality that’s just wishful thinking.
A praise sandwich might look something like this
Boss – “Hey Bob, great work on that presentation yesterday.”
Bob – “Gee thanks boss.” Bob is now smiling happily.
Boss – “It’s just a shame you’ve been late ten times this month.You know Bob, you really need to sort out your timekeeping. If not I may have to put you on a disciplinary.”
Bob – By now Bob is frowning, concerned at what is being said. “I don’t like the sound of that boss.”
Boss – “Well, never mind. Before you go I just wanted to say well done for your input into today’s meeting. Thank you Bob.”
If I was Bob I’d be pretty worried. I wouldn’t be thinking about any praise I’d received, I’d be thinking about that potential disciplinary.
Bob’s boss might as well have not bothered with the praise at all. After all the real point of the conversation was Bob’s timekeeping.
Which is exactly my point. If you want to praise an employee, then praise them. If you want to tell them off, then tell them off. But whatever you do, don’t mix the two together.
Like oil and water, praise and reprimands don’t mix, and the bad stuff will float to the top and stay there.
A praise sandwich is an outdated management technique, used by weak managers attempting to avoid conflict.
This comment from comedian Alan Carr springs to mind. I couldn’t have summed up my thoughts on praise sandwiches any better.
“You can’t polish a turd, but you can roll it in glitter.”
Related articles
- The Best Ways To Praise Your Employees (ceo.com)
- 7 Ways To Effectively Praise Workers (businessinsider.com)
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