The system failed on Friday afternoon. Rosa stayed late, rebuilt the schedule, called six families, and saved Monday’s launch. On Tuesday, she received public praise, a gift card, and the unofficial title of miracle worker.
No one mentioned Malik, who had warned about the failure two weeks earlier and created a prevention checklist that nobody used.
Recognition is not neutral. It tells employees which behaviors become visible, valued, and repeated. If organizations praise only dramatic recovery, they may unintentionally reward a culture where prevention is invisible and exhaustion looks like commitment.
Kahn’s work on engagement highlights the importance of meaningfulness, psychological safety, and availability in how people bring themselves to work (Kahn, 1990). Recognition can strengthen meaning when it connects effort to real contribution. It becomes less healthy when it celebrates constant sacrifice while ignoring the conditions that made sacrifice necessary.
Broaden what you notice:
- Prevention: the risk caught before it became an emergency.
- Collaboration: the person who shared information early or helped another team succeed.
- Learning: the employee who admitted an error and improved the process.
- Reliability: the quiet work completed well and on time.
- Recovery: the team that protected rest after an unavoidable surge.
Make recognition specific. “Great job” disappears quickly. “Your early review caught the access issue before launch, which protected clients and saved rework” helps everyone understand the behavior and impact.
Continue appreciating people who respond to real crises. Just add the second question: What created the crisis, and what work would prevent the next one? A healthy culture can honor rescue without building its identity around emergencies.
Tellumind helps organizations align recognition, workload, and culture with sustainable performance. This week, thank one person for work that prevented a problem or made someone else more capable. If heroics have become your operating model, Tellumind can help you redesign what leaders notice and reward.
References
Kahn, W. A. (1990). Psychological conditions of personal engagement and disengagement at work. Academy of Management Journal, 33(4), 692-724. https://doi.org/10.5465/256287
