#203 from R&D Innovator Volume 5, Number 2          February 1996

FORUM—from our readers

Hey, That’s a Company Award!

I work for a small start-up company.  One source of funds--we have no product yet--is a government grant for innovative research.  Several people in the company applied for such a grant, but mine was the only one that was awarded.  With the exception of some administrative data, I wrote the entire grant, and I was the project’s principal investigator. 

Several months after receiving the grant, I met someone working in another company who asked why I didn’t attend the annual state business awards ceremony and dinner.  That’s the first I heard of such an event.

It turns out that the governor sent out letters to the twenty companies who received these federal awards.  The letter invited each company’s higher executives as well as the grant’s principal investigator.  My president, however, never mentioned this to me.  He, alone, attended.

The person who told me about the ceremony said that my company was the only one without a principal investigator present.  She knew this because each representative was individually introduced.  After the introductions, each company received an engraved trophy.  That was the first I heard about a trophy.  It’s certainly not in any common area in the company, or any other area I’ve seen, including the president’s office. 

I want to make it clear that I’m not interested in holding onto the trophy.  What I am interested in, however, is sharing a bit of the recognition for my efforts.  I realize that I couldn’t have applied for the grant if it weren’t for the company and its executives.  But it would have been a pleasant experience to have the trophy at least shown to company personnel before it ended up in the president’s home den.  Actually, I don’t know if it’s there; but it’s a good bet.

This column isn’t a place for disgruntled people to just lay out their problems.  It is an opportunity for some managers to realize the consequences of their actions.  In my case, the consequence is that I’m going to leave the company.  And with my leaving, there’s a good chance that the grant-supported project won’t achieve many of its goals.  Since I know just about everyone in this very specialized technical area, and as you see I’m pretty upset, the company may have a difficult time replacing me.  Applicants certainly will ask why I left.

Was keeping the trophy for personal use a good managerial decision?  Was it a good managerial decision to not invite me to the ceremony?  These little things can mean a lot.

Anonymous