praise sandwich
n.— «When giving constructive criticism to an employee, open with some comments about something the employee has done well recently. Then address the bad stuff, but make it quick and to the point, like a shot. Close with another positive item. The employee leaves feeling better about the meeting than if you just gave them the criticism, and you’ve done your job of being the benevolent task master. In the trade, this is known as a “praise sandwich.”» —“Corporate Middle Manager” by Max Mignon Tricks of the Trade Jan. 24, 2005. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
Imagine telling someone how to get to your home, but without using the name of your street, or any other street within ten miles. Could you do it? We take street names for granted, but these words are useful for far more, like applying for a job or...
What if, instead of being an inanimate object, a dictionary were alive? That’s the idea behind a lavishly illustrated new children’s book called The Dictionary Story (Bookshop|Amazon) by Oliver Jeffers and Sam Winston. This is part of a...