There was a time when violators of the accepted standards of behavior were punished publicly in the market square in stocks.

People passing by would talk about them and throw bad things at them. The intent was obviously to discourage others from imitating this behavior.

Public humiliation is a flawed motivation strategy however.  It fosters employee resentment, harms morale, and destroys motivation–let alone prevents employee engagement from ever occurring.

When employees fail, managers should follow this advice:

Praise in public, correct (criticize) in private!

While there are some situations where you may need to correct an employee publicly (to prevent an injury from occurring, to stop abusive or illegal behavior in the workplace, to address an immediate crisis already occurring, etc.), these are uncommon occurrences. And, even in these situations, you can stop the offending behavior and then remove the offending employee to a private setting to address their actions more thoroughly with them in private.

When managers correct employees privately, employees perform better over time. As much as possible, use this strategy to provide feedback to your employees and improve their performance. It is effective leadership.

Video: 5 Reasons Why You Should Not Criticize Your Employees Publicly