Employee Recognition

Why incentives work If people are truly an organization’s most important resource then effectively recognizing them as valuable must be an organizational priority. Effective employee recognition is a critical component to building and maintaining an excellent business environment, which is what employees are looking for today. Recognition is a very effective leadership principle and has become a “hard” management skill. It has moved from being “something nice to do” to being a management tool that strategically enhances and drives the right activities and behaviours that are aligned with the organization’s goals. Employees who are recognized for demonstrating those activities and behaviours feel like they serve a valuable purpose and will embrace the organization’s goals. They can connect their behaviour to the success of the organization. This combination results in an environment that people want to work in, and they strive to do extraordinary things. It is equally powerful for the employee as it is for the employer. When employees are striving to do extraordinary things in the workplace there is a high level of engagement, increased productivity, and retention. Developing an effective recognition culture within an organization is a win-win for all stakeholders: the employer, the employee and the customer. There are different levels of employee recognition. Effective employee recognition reinforces actions and behaviours that an organization or leader wants to see more frequently. There is a direct link between recognition given and the organization’s vision, culture, mission, and goals. This link is owned, understood, and believed in by everyone in the organization. The vision, mission, or goals are only posters on the wall until behaviours and actions are identified and aligned to the words on the posters. Approaches to recognition are changing as employees’ expectations are changing. Great places to work, such as Google, are setting the expectations. Employees are aware of what organizations like Google are doing for employees and therefore the expectations are changing. In the past there was a strong focus on formal programs, such as years of service, top performer of the year, or employee of the year. Healthy workplaces realize that this is not enough. These recognition programs only occur once a year and only a small percentage of employees are recognized. Consistent and day-to-day recognition is what organizations are implementing to meet employee expectations and needs. Without day-to-day recognition, the larger celebrations or rewards lose meaning. When asked what they value the most in the workplace, the majority of employees will say they want to be appreciated, thanked and valued by their immediate manager or supervisor. The reality is that if a leader fails to effectively recognize outstanding performance, effort, and value, employees will not stay with you — they will move to a better work environment. People don’t quit jobs or leave organizations, they leave relationships; they leave managers. Effective day-to-day recognition is the simplest and has the most impact on performance, retention, and creating an excellent environment in which to work. It is based on many components including the following: Determination of the organization’s desired behaviours, communicating and putting a strategic program or structure in place to effectively recognize them as they are demonstrated.Managers and leaders focussing on employees, understanding their value, and acknowledging that value.Saying “thank you” to employees for doing good things. It is a decent human behaviour. Each component is effective only when they are specific, timely, appropriate, regular and sincere. Incentives, gifts and or mementos (called “the stuff”) can and do form part of many recognition programs. Giving employees something material with a thank you or recognition can be an enhancement. Remember it is not about the stuff, it is about the genuine recognition, acknowledgment or thank you that is delivered with the stuff. There are many quality providers of recognition mementos that organizations contract with for their supply. Incentives, mementos, and employee gifts can be customized to suit the culture of the organization. Organizations can also utilize their suppliers’ expertise to ensure the gifts are appropriate to each employee. Other organizations leave it up to the individual managers to acquire personal and appropriate items such as gift certificates, movie passes, chocolate, wine, dinners, etc. The list is endless. Whatever the source for the mementos used to enhance the recognition, it must focus on STARS to be genuine and effective. S – SpecificT – TimelyA – Appropriate R – RegularS – Sincere Specific to the Behaviour Informing an employee that they did a good job and to keep up the good work carries little meaning and impact. Recog-nizing an employee for demonstrating a specific desired behaviour or action will reinforce the behaviour and will cause it to be repeated. A pizza lunch has impact on repeated high performance if the pizza lunch is celebrating a specific team ac-complishment. Timely As soon as possible. Recognition or praise loses its effectiveness as time goes on. Saving recognition up for the weekly team meeting or end of month can be result in ineffective recognition. Deliver recognition within days or hours of the behaviour or action for effectiveness. Appropriate The type of recognition is critical. A manager must know how each employee wants to be recognized. A quiet, private person would not benefit from a public acknowledgment; it would be counter-productive. Mementos must be personalized to the employee and to the behaviour. If the behaviour is significant, then the memento needs to be significant and suitable to the employee. Regular Recognition or praise does not impact performance if it is periodic. To create a culture of recognition and to cause desired behaviours to be repeated, there needs to be regular, consistent, and frequent recognition. Managers need to be looking for behaviours and actions on a daily basis to recognize. It eventually becomes part of the daily routine of managers and employees. Sincere Focussing on the above four will position recognition to be genuine and sincere. There also needs to be a level of caring in the words said. Often sincerity comes from how words are said, not the actual words said. People know when you care. A manager has to believe in recognition. Effective employee recognition is a requirement to building an excellent work environment, and an excellent work environment is a competitive advantage in today’s marketplace. The organizations that are tapping into this effective management skill stay current by belonging to Recognition Roundtables with other organizations and recognition professionals. Employee recognition is the most underutilized management skill, primarily because managers say they don’t know how to deliver it effectively. Manager education on recognition and its impact in the workplace accelerates implementation and forms a foundation to build an excellent business environment.

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