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| Photo by RDNE Stock project on Pexels |
Welcome back to July's UBC. All month long I'm going to be talking about cultural differences between Switzerland and the USA.
Today let's talk about (school) awards and recognition in general.
If you're American you may be surprised to hear that recognition is not a thing in Switzerland, and isn't it is sad?
In the US the school year has been getting to an end, and I kept seeing proud social media posts of (great / grand) parents showing their kids' achievements: Head of School's List, Good Citizenship Award, Honor Roll and many more.
They don't exist in Switzerland.
Same goes for yearbooks and the most likely to topics. Such a missed opportunity.
Also, prior to working for Starbucks, the only time I heard of "employee of the month" and the like was in movies.
What is wrong with us?
I feel in Switzerland we don't like to stand out. We're supposed to be good students and good citizens just for the sake of it, no need to mention, let alone celebrate it.
If it weren't for Human Resources, most supervisors would not sit down with their team members to talk about their performance and contributions. Even if they do, they will be reluctant to praise because they are afraid that the employees will then demand a pay rise.
The only area you will get (public) recognition is sports. Be a fast runner, a skilled gymnast or a successful scorer, and you will get a medal and a mention in the paper.
As I mentioned in my post about education, even graduation is not this big the deal it deserves.
Colin graduated last summer.
I'm pretty positive they had some sort of senior trip, but no award night, prom or the like.
They had to complete and present a team project. Emphasis on team, because, again, it's more important to work together than to single out an individual's hard work.
There was an official end of school ceremony at church, not because of religious context, but because it's a large-ish and festive building. Every class did a presentation and received their diploma.
They wore a formal dress or suit and looked impressive. No caps and gowns though.
Afterwards there was some mostly unofficial picture taking, and a small apéro was taking place.
Apéro? A social gathering with finger food and (alcoholic) beverages, often in a work context but also after workshops, conventions - or weddings. I guess it's comparable to a reception, but maybe less formal.
Then we were supposed to go home.
That's where I came in though.
I organized a dinner for Colin's best friends and their parents. It would have been such a shame to purchase the elegant clothes, get a hair job and the like just for the 60 - 90 minutes of the official ceremony, don't you think?
So I apologize for keeping this post short. Awards and recognition is just not a thing in Switzerland. Shame on us. I really feel we're missing out on a lot of fun and motivation,
What do you have to tell me? What has been or is being awarded and celebrated in your life?
It's really neat to hear about a different countries perspective on rewards and recognition celebrations. I'm currently working on a book an have really been striving to get best seller and it makes me think is it really that important? Why am I stressing about it so much?
ReplyDeleteWhat an eye-opener about recognition in Switzerland vs the US! It's wild to think about having no yearbooks, "most likely to" awards, or even much fuss for graduation. As an American, I'm used to celebrations for everything, almost to the point of excess.
ReplyDeleteI love that you organized a dinner for Colin and his friends after graduation. Sometimes, you have to throw your own party, right? I personally skipped both of my college graduations and did something low-key with loved ones.
It's cool to see the different approaches, though. Maybe there's a happy medium between the US award-crazy culture and the Swiss lower-key style?
Tamara, what an eye-opener about recognitions! Some of us do think recognition goes too far in the US. So in some schools and teams the child who excels gets an award, but everyone else does as well. This has bled over to birthday traditions, also. One year, I took a birthday gift over to my neighbor's house, for her daughter Stephanie's birthday. The grandmother, who lived there, became very angry and condescending-- because I did not bring a gift for each of the other children!!!! That was about 25 years ago, and I had never heard of gifting the siblings on the one child's birthday. I thought the rude one was the grandmother, who made a funny face when accepting the gift and then made a drama out of contacting me later to tell me all about her anger. Wow! I think children need to learn that each has their time. So now that Colin has graduated, what is he doing?
ReplyDeleteP.S. I love your organizing a dinner for Colin and his friends after the graduation ceremony. It's good to celebrate the milestones/gateways of life.
ReplyDelete