Can’t You See The Need for Investing in Recognition?

You’ve got your recognition strategy and plan written up and ready. The budget is prepared and your finance people have reviewed it. Primary stakeholders were consulted on their specific needs. Any relevant concerns have been addressed. You have the support of most of your leaders.

You present everything to your file leader. Zapp!

No go! Not approved!!

He or she doesn’t see the value of spending money on employee recognition. They view recognition as an expense along with compensation and benefits. There’s no urgency in their mind to invest in recognition.

Those of you responsible for employee recognition will likely have to deal with such a leader at some point in time. They just don’t “get it” as far as recognition is concerned. Yet, you know that wise leaders always invest in growing and developing people.

What can you do to prepare yourself for such a leader? How do you anticipate any potential rejection points towards recognition initiatives? (more…)

Simple Ways To Find Time to Recognize People

Finding time to recognize others can be challenging, that’s for sure.

But when we take on an attitude of respecting and valuing people and their contributions then recognition becomes so much easier to do.

Yes, recognition giving requires personal commitment and self-discipline.

By putting a few of the following time management principles into place you will see how you will have more time for recognition giving. (more…)

How To Get Your Managers Consistently Giving Recognition

Getting managers to consistently give meaning, memorable, and motivational recognition is going to take time and a desire for them to want to improve.

Leave those managers alone who say they don’t want to change. For them, it is a matter of looking at their engagement, performance, and retention results. Then their manager can hold them accountable for having to improve when their performance reviews are conducted.

Your time can be better spent helping those who want to improve and show them how to become better recognizers. (more…)

There’s a right way and wrong way for recognition.

You know and will discover, that some people love the limelight in front of others when they are recognized. But there are others who only want private, one-on-one recognition. Make sure to respect people’s preferences. By following people’s wishes, even private recognition presentations will have a wide-scale impact. The recognition recipient will value your consideration of their preference. And they will continue to emulate the positive behavior you’re acknowledging. No matter how people want to be recognized do it their way.

How To Do A Stakeholder Analysis For Your Recognition Program

Before jumping into designing and developing an online recognition program make sure you get the input from all the key players in your organization.

One way to do this is to conduct a stakeholder analysis as you move through the various project management stages.

I am going to take you through the steps for carrying out a successful stakeholder analysis. (more…)

Why Recognizing Employees For Going Above and Beyond Is a Good Thing

When employees go above and beyond in the workplace it stands out.

It’s noticeable. Exceptional. And it should be celebrated.

That is why managers need to understand the importance of recognizing employees for going above and beyond.

Why should you establish an above and beyond category to your existing recognition award programs? What are the benefits of doing so? (more…)

When Leaders Have a Hard Time Giving Recognition

Not everyone is born a naturally gifted recognizer of people. Which means you’re guaranteed to have some leaders who aren’t great at giving recognition either.

You may be called upon to help these leaders. Or you may take on a personal interest in helping them to recognize staff better and make a positive difference.

One of your goals will be how to get your leaders actively using your recognition programs. But before that can happen, they need to be actively doing essential recognition practices on a regular basis. (more…)

The Most Common Problems With Creating a Recognition Strategy

You all know the importance and wisdom of creating a written recognition strategy. WorldatWork states 55% of companies have a recognition strategy as of 2017. Of those with a written recognition strategy, 95% of them are aligned with the organizational strategy.

Many things hold companies back from producing such a working document.

Here’s what I have observed as the most common problems. And I will share some ideas with how to solve them. (more…)