recognition events

Last year, I was honored with a service award by my employer and invited to a four-day recognition event across the country. I was allowed to bring a guest. Fortunately for her, my wife was able to accompany me by making the winning bid (it was "you get to keep your imponderables intact") .

I won't lie: It was a hell of a lot of fun, and most of it felt like a vacation, not a business meeting. But also much of it was business.

I work in an industry that is essentially service. It's a knowledge industry where the workforce is the competitive advantage. It's not competing on manufacturing quality or technology advantage or flavor or cool design or distribution efficiency. At its core, our success depends on the employees doing a better job of helping customers.

If you compete on technology, you invest in technology. If you compete on flavor, you invest in flavor. If you compete on efficiency, you invest in efficiency. If you compete on customer service, you invest in employees.

The recognition event I attended was not a vacation for top executives or crooked sales people who made their numbers by bilking little old ladies out of their life savings. Mostly I met administrative assistants. Computer programmers. Back-office staff. Mail clerks. Phone support representatives. Bookkeepers. Project managers. All of them received top performance ratings and awards from their peers in the company, which allowed us to be invited to this special event.

When it was over, the only thing I wanted to do in the next 359 days was work my hardest to win another award and another invitation to the next year's recognition event. The event had worked its magic on me--and on every one of the other people I met there. All of us, already top performers, wanted to go back and improve on our solid achievements. When I returned to the office, people asked me how it was. I could tell they were hoping to get invited next year, too, and they were redoubling their efforts to outperform me. A healthy competition.

Shortly after that, my group was reorganized into an area that was no longer eligible to attend that particular event. Although I was disappointed I wouldn't be eligible, I actually had hoped that my coworkers would have the chance to attend because (a) they deserved it as much as I did and (b) I wanted them to feel the same pride and reward I felt coming out of the event. The 2009 event was recently canceled, and I feel a deep sadness that the people who deserve to go will be denied that opportunity despite the company having a strong enough year to acquire a major competitor and post an annual profit.

The people hurt by canceling these events are not the executives. The people hurt are the people most deserving of the recognition. The bookkeepers, the administrative assistants, the computer programmers, the project managers. The people who work hard to support their families and to help customers day in and day out, who were nominated by coworkers or customers for outstanding service.

It just makes me sad, and mad.