Top 5 Essential Recognition Skills for Leaders

You’ll find plenty of positive recognition practices to become a great recognizer in the many posts in this blog, or within chapters in my book Practicing Recognition, that will help you and the leaders in your organization.

Yet those of you who lead your recognition programs and strive to encourage your leaders to be exemplary recognition givers, influencing leaders to do this important skill can be tough. 

I wanted to dig deeper and draw upon the essential skills that leaders need to develop. What might you coach your leaders on that would help them catch the vision? 

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Telling People The Difference Their Actions Make Is Important

In life, I strive for a basic level of minimalism. I still have a lot of things, but I continually get rid of some things I no longer need or use so I can focus more on what’s most important to me­—such as family, friends, joy, and freedom. Minimalism can make a real difference.

However, when expressing recognition to the people you and I work with, there is no need for minimalism with how you communicate your praise and appreciation to them. That means, as I have said before, that those meaningless, short phrases like “good job” and “well done,” don’t work. 

If you’re still using them, you’ve gone too far with decluttering your recognition messaging. 

This post is all about showing you the importance of telling people the difference their positive actions make on others. 

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How To Be An Authentic Recognition Leader

If there is one thing I’ve learned about giving meaningful and effective recognition to others, is the fact that it must be authentic. Both the recognition and the giver must be real. 

Imagine the positive influence that can come when a people-leader has learned to be authentic as an individual and a recognizer of others.

Let’s explore how a leader can become authentic and a real recognition giver, too.

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One Thing You Need To Improve Your Recognition

In researching recognition practices and the positive behaviors and principles associated with meaningful recognition, I have identified at least forty essential behaviors needed for giving recognition seen as authentic and effective in the eyes of employees.

My colleague, Dr. Charles Scherbaum, and I have even developed a Recognition Skills Assessment that assesses an individual’s strengths and weaknesses around these researched behaviors.

But over and above all these behaviors, skills, and practices, what’s the one thing you can do to improve your recognition giving abilities? (more…)

Master These 5 Behaviors for Great Recognition

In my work to help people give real recognition wherever they work, I’ve been able to conduct research on the essential behaviors effective managers do well in giving employees authentic recognition.

I identified a total of 40 behaviors observed in people recognizing one another. These were grouped into 5 categories or domains to help us focus people more clearly on the different types of behaviors.

Then we solicited experts in the field of employee recognition to rank these behaviors by how important they were and the level of positive impact they had and how frequently effective recognizers used them.

What I want to do for you today is give you just the top 5 behaviors that if you will implement and improve upon will make you a better recognizer of those around you.

Are you ready? (more…)

4 Principles for Giving Recognition At The Right Time

How important is timeliness when giving recognition to employees?

I am going to show you that there is great value in giving timely recognition to your employees.

We asked managers their thoughts on the importance of timeliness of when they gave recognition to their employees. Here is how they responded: (more…)

How To Make Your Recognition Sound Super Good

Does your recognition sound hollow? Has anyone shared how your recognition doesn’t come across as meaningful to people?

Maybe you need to pay more attention to your voice.

How you sound when speaking to people can affect their perception of you. Your tone of voice can also influence how they interpret what you say. (more…)

Can You Give Employees Too Much Recognition?

It is amazing how often I get asked that question. “Can you give employees too much recognition?”

You have to be polite when responding, but I often wonder what their motive is for asking or what happened in a recent work experience to generate such a question.

Quite simply, the answer is “No”. (more…)

Putting Yourself in Someone Else’s Shoes

It was a Saturday and I had our four children all to myself. We were planning to exit the house for a while. This would provide some welcome relief for my wife who was then bedbound with her last pregnancy.

The older children were scurrying around and independently putting on jackets and running shoes and heading for the van.

Our youngest, our 3 year-old daughter, repeatedly asked me for help with tying up her shoes. She quietly said, “Daddy, can you help me put on my shoes?” (more…)