Tag Archives: Behaviors

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Give People Social Badges To Increase Engagement

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If any of you were ever in Boy Scouts or Girl Guides, or you currently have children in these programs now, you’ll be familiar with merit badges.

A merit badge is typically a round or geometric shaped material badge, with a symbolic image, representing more than a 100 achievement areas. You can learn about sports, crafts, trades, the outdoors, business and many other areas.

They are awarded to youth based on fulfilling a required list of activities and study in any chosen area.

Does anyone remember when Microsoft® Xbox 360 came on the scene back in 2005? That is when they first introduced the idea of digital badges as an achievement system within online games.

Badges are all the rage in the world of gamification with playing video games and online learning.

Today, digital badges use visual representation of real-world accomplishments such as running marathons or with certifying learning on instructional sites like Khan Academy.

I would advocate that badges are a great way to acknowledge people for living company values and accomplishing specific strategic goals.

What is the benefit from incorporating badges into your online recognition programs? (more…)

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Master These 5 Behaviors for Great Recognition

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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…)

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Do You Really Maintain A Culture With Recognition?

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I have written before about stopping people from creating a “this or that” culture.

In fact, in the early stages of my career, I used to deliver a course called “Making A Real Recognition® Culture”.

Now I refute this belief I once stated.

You only need one culture.

Your culture is your company’s purpose, vision and values. It is the explicit way you do things where you work. It’s the common set of beliefs and appropriate behaviors everyone strives to follow.

You don’t need a culture of engagement, a culture of trust, a culture of collaboration, or a culture of growth, innovation, or change, for that matter.

You shouldn’t even have a recognition culture.

What you need is your very own culture – whatever it is you and your organization stand for.

But the question asked is whether recognition will help you maintain your organizational culture. (more…)

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4 Ways To Be Crystal Clear About The Recognition You Give

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Be careful when expressing recognition not to be too brief.

Statements like “Well done!”, “Great job!”, or “Excellent!”, when left in isolation, may not be enough to create the intended message or feeling of appreciation for a person.

The irony is, while we may think we were perfectly clear by giving such succinct words of praise to a person, recipients may think they can see right through them.

They already know what they did was well done and a great job. That’s exactly what they do every day when they come to work. It’s part of the employer-employee agreement they signed up for when hired – do good work and you’ll get paid the agreed upon wage or salary. They are good people who are honest and care about what they do.

Sometimes we sacrifice clarity in the recognition experience we give to people by being short and sweet.

Sometimes we sacrifice clarity in the recognition experience we give to people by being short and sweet.

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My recommendation is to look through the glass of recognition carefully and make it much clearer. (more…)

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How To Get Your Values to Drive Recognition

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Values are a big deal when it comes to employee recognition.

After all, values are the way organizations, or the people that work there, do things. And when people do the right things the right way they deserve to be acknowledged for demonstrating those values.

Real recognition is about appreciating people for they are and recognizing them for what they do.

Catching people doing the right things can easily be done through offline recognition practices or online recognition programs.

Your values are key to getting recognition happening well.

Your values are key to getting recognition happening well.

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(more…)

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Top 10 Mistakes in Designing a Rewards Program

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Setting up and implementing a rewards program doesn’t necessarily lead to instant success unless it’s done the right way.

Below are the Top 10 Mistakes leaders, recognition administrators and practitioners can sometimes make when designing and implementing the various employee rewards programs in their companies.

Are you ready? (more…)

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Beware of The Dark Side of Rewards

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We were all shocked to hear how thousands of Wells Fargo employees opened up millions of fake accounts.

Were rewards a factor in the rampant unethical practices of these employees?

Rewards have their place but they must be used with great care.

Let’s take a look at what happened at Wells Fargo and see what we can learn from this case. (more…)