Panegyric

The panegyric (from the Greek panegyris, a festival assembly) was a form of oratorical speech that the ancient Greeks delivered in public to laud the merits of a public figure, city or population. In this case, we have used the term “panegyric” to describe a type of feedback often marked by excessive praise, which a manager gives to a staff member who has solved a challenging issue that might otherwise have evolved into a very serious problem, or has displayed unexpected expertise in handling a task that the manager had assigned to him with some skepticism. The panegyric might: lead the staff member to overestimate him/herself; make it very difficult for the supervisor to manage the staff member; make it very unlikely that the staff member will improve performance and grow professionally.