Last week I wrote up a spec for the ideas that came out of that very productive meeting (that is not sarcasm, there were MANY ideas!) and this morning I got praised by the two head guys for my ideas, and the spec.

Actual praise. When I mentioned my surprise to a friend he almost hit me upside the head and told me not to be ridiculous – of course I deserved the praise, if I’d done something well beyond expectation (which I had, I think. One of the main ideas was mine).

The thing is I don’t expect praise. I seem to be in that awkward stage in this new job, where I still expect the shit from the OLD job to be the norm. There was no praise at the old job (admittedly, it wasn’t a job where I was hired for thinking). But often I got the opposite end of the stick – insults, giggles and a ridiculously fake and bitchy team. I’m fairly sure they thought I was stupid, and not at all as perceptive as I am. I can’t believe how painful it was!

If you’re an employer, let it be said that praise and recognition goes a looong way to making happy staff. And, if your anything like my old boss (ho that she was), bitchiness, stupidity, and bullshit makes a fair chunk of your company hate you. For serious. And I know which company I’d be happy to go the extra mile for, and which company I’d be happy to dump in the shit if any possibility presented itself.

Tags: work