During a webinar I conducted a couple of weeks ago, an attendee asked me a question during the Q&A section. I have heard the question asked many times before and you might have heard it yourself.
“Can you ever give someone too much recognition?”
And because they have asked me this question many times over the years, I could give this individual a quick response. Now, I will share this with you, too.
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It’s mind-blowing to see the difference recognition practices and programs undergo in organizations where a written recognition strategy and plan exists, versus those organizations that don’t have one.
I hope to encourage you to create a written recognition strategy and plan if you don’t already have one. And, if you have one already, to make sure you have an action plan for implementing it.
Here are my three reasons you need a recognition strategy. There are plenty more, but I hope these will encourage you.
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People have often wondered how I started off in health care and then somehow made the switch to employee recognition training and consulting.
It all began when I started my master’s degree program at Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan, to become a speech-language pathologist.
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A webinar attendee asked me this week about the best way to express recognition to someone. Were there any great examples of recognition I had heard? They asked what I would recommend that people say to give more meaningful recognition.
What I attempted to tell this person was to stick to the principles behind giving amazing recognition and not to script out what to say or write.
I’ll share with you some key ideas about this concept.
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I always remind clients, and those who manage recognition programs, that these online recognition programs can only do so much. Personally, they are responsible for getting these great tools into the hands of leaders and employees and to encourage people to use them.
Recognition programs are only a tool to help people practice recognition giving. They should never replace the one-on-one, face-to-face expressions of acknowledgement.
Check out some of the recognition programs in your organization. How do they help everyone practice amazing recognition?
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A challenging concern that recognition program owners often have is when employees do not redeem their reward points that they have received.
This situation leaves the unresolved concern for organizations having a liability for these points until employees redeem their points and are paid for.
One question that is often asked is how come employees haven’t redeemed their points yet? Have they forgotten what they have? Do they know how to redeem them?
I will share some observations with you and let’s see if together we can address the issues.
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There are people in our lives, both past and present, who influence us for good and help us grow and develop.
You might never have taken the path that life offered you without their guidance, inspiration, and support.
Now, the only question remaining is whether you said thanks to any of these individuals for what they did for you.
I won’t pretend I have thanked everyone who has made a difference in my life, especially from the past. But I certainly work on thanking everyone today who has affected me.
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Consultants come, and consultants go. Some are better than others.
I recall starting my first job at a newly opened hospital as a Speech-Language Pathologist. Towards the end of that year, the leadership team hired a consultant to help them set direction and create a strategy for this new facility.
The consultant roamed around and interviewed leaders and managers and a sampling of employees.
Leaders scheduled a full-day meeting to brainstorm solutions. They invited many to be involved. We generated oodles of flip charts in response to questions posed by the consultant. Everyone vetted this content, and we finally came up with a semblance of a plan.
But that’s where things sat.
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There are many things I wish organizational leaders taught everyone about giving meaningful, motivational, and memorable recognition.
To help you out, I have highlighted seven principles that should help you with how and what you teach leaders and employees.
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