Ain’t the same fuckin’ ballpark, it ain’t the same league, it ain’t even the same fuckin’ sport.
You’re talking about a direct thank you to an individual with a casual cc: to their boss. Something you would presumably do without copying the boss anyway. The OP is talking about sending an effusive letter of praise to someone’s manager. The fact that it was so well received by the Library Director and employee is significant. The fact that we’re talking about the reaction of a library staff speaks volumes.
I wonder what the fuck you’re you’re talking about, because you never defined what “same rules” are, other than the lower status, the more likely you are to praise over their head.
Just say thank you, for fuck’s sake. If their manger is worth half a shit, they don’t need you to tell them who their best employees are. If their manager sucks, a letter won’t matter anyway.
You do remember that we’re talking about letters of praise here, right?
I do both frequently, but I do really like giving compliments.
Yesterday I sent an email thanking university staff for being kind and patient with me, and they sent a really nice reply. Other departments have been horrendously rude in the past, and having them just take the time to answer me properly and always sending me very swift responses was nice. Yes, it’s their job, but apparently other departments don’t manage to adequately perform that same job, so I’ll praise those that do.
I remember people sending nice letters for things I did for them, or sometimes just quickly letting my boss know what they appreciated.
Letters of praise or complaint (and I write USPS letters, no easy-to-erase e-mail) are pretty few and far between. Praise letters outnumber the complaints by perhaps 3 to 1. I never complain about an individual. I agree with those that feel I shouldn’t be to harsh on someone who might just be having a bad day. I do complain about lousy products, policies or practices.
In a complaint post I try to find out the name of the recipient best able to act on, compile or relay the complaint to someone more appropriate. I don’t expect complaints to be acknowledged. I do subscribe to the “if you don’t tell them, they will never know” school, so out they go.
Posts of praise for individual actions go to their supervisor, (and yes, I’ll find out that name) with the recipent CC’d so they know I did it and that their service was appreciated. Posts of praise for company products or services go to the appropriate department manager and anyone else I think suitable. I do that to reinforce the benefit of the product or service to the company.
I personally believe formal business praise to supervisors makes a difference to the company and certainly to the individual if one is involved. Complaints? Probably not. That’s an opinion though. In 35 years of career employment I have never been on the receiving end of either type of communication.
I have written complaints and praise letters both. When I do the former I try to be restrained and objective.
When I write praise letters I’ll gush a little. Like the saleladies who helped me find dresses when I was in a hurry. Or the fast food worker who found me a cell phone to use when I had to call AAA(my tire went flat in their lot).
What few e-mails (or even more rarely, letters) I send as commentary are almost always to complain about something.*
On the other hand, my online reviews of businesses are about 85-90% positive.
*like the time I bitched to management of a local barbecue joint about one of their outlets switching from blues to country music. They switched back to blues. Power of the consumer!
Yeah I’m all angry too that someone said something nice about someone!!
No wait, if the clerk at Safeway packs my groceries the way I like, I always make a detour to customer service to tell them that “Betty” is doing a great job.
I’m more apt to send a praise letter than a complaint one. If a business has irritated me, I vote with my wallet. But if a customer service rep does an unusually good job, I want that person recognized.
One thing that occurs to me is this. When I encounter outstanding [del]salesmanship[/del] salespersonship or customer service in the retail arena, I’m as like to try to poach the person for my own company as to write a letter to his or her boss.
Compliments exceed complaints by about 10 to 1. If someone is incredibly rude or incompetent, I tell them on the spot in a very calm voice. I’ve complained to managment about an employee’s behavior exactly twice in the last ten years or so. But people are mostly awesome everywhere I go. I’m always grinning and easily pleased, though, so maybe being pleasant helps ensure I get good service.
As for the follow up: if someone has a great attitude or is especially helpful, I tell them on the spot and also follow up with a letter of praise. Nearly every retailer, chain restaurant, and service provider offers an online form for compliments/complaints. Takes a pleasant five minutes when I get home to reflect on good service. Some employees in the service industry get bonuses or perks for customer compliments.; my ex received a $25 bonus each time a client called back to praise him for his thorough tech help.
Any person with a moral or ethical system or relgious belief that requires kindness to others could extend this courtesy as part of his/her practice. It’s not* required *to make the world a better place by rewarding good behavior, but it makes me feel good to recognize and acknowledge excellence in this very small way.
We have this awards program at work where every employee is able to distribute up to ten awards per year to other employees as recognition. The awards are either gift cards for $50 (the recipient is able to choose which GC they get) or monetary awards up to $1000 that goes on the next paycheque (these ones need more justification and it’s a bigger deal to give these ones out). I have given out 8 GC’s in as many months, and have received five (three GC, two monetary awards) in the last year. It’s a great program!
I probably complain less than I should, but I will offer compliments for outstanding service outside of work. I’d say I compliment a service person about once a month or so.
I am all to aware how abysmal working in a service industry can be, so seldom comment on mediocre or lack luster performance. I have encountered people that were beyond the pale in regards to being rude or totally inappropriate. (such as grabbing my ass on an escalator and then saying “oh I thought you were falling and was trying to catch you.” ) but I do definitely compliment excellent or beyond the call of duty service. I know for a fact there have been times it has benefitted the person I’ve complimented. I can’t see bad in returning a kindness, or praising someone who is obviously trying very hard, and managers have always seemed surprised and delighted to get a compliment instead of complaint.
Sort of, in that I occasionally submit reviews of a business to sites like amazon, tripadvisor or yell, and am just as likely to report really good service as bad.
The few times I can think of where an individual has been particularly good or bad has been with large companies and I couldn’t actually find a way to comment upon their individual performance. For example, the caretaker at my block of flats is very good, but the best I can do is mention that in other communications with my HA.
Actually, that’s only been for good stuff; the bad performance has, IME, always seemed more ingrained in the company than just one employee.