Tag Archives: Contribution

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Telling People The Difference Their Actions Make Is Important

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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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Top 10 Powerful Words for Giving Amazing Recognition

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Knowing the right things to say is critical for giving authentic, meaningful recognition. Expressions like, “I want you to know how much I appreciate your help today with finalizing ABC’s incentive program launch. You saved the day for us, Kim, by getting everything ready to go,” makesuse of all the right words. Check out the Top 10 Powerful Words below for crafting amazing recognition and tune up how you give recognition.

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This Is What Awesome Recognition Looks Like

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Some people seem to be just a natural when they are out and about in the company as far as appreciating people for who they are and recognizing the wonderful contributions made by employees.

There will always be others who have a much harder time in recognizing others. For whatever reasons, such as not being recognized as a child, perhaps more introverted, or plain uncomfortable with knowing what to say or do, recognition doesn’t happen.

But the great news is that giving awesome recognition to people is a skill anyone can learn.

When you know what something hard to do looks like, such as a new skill you have to learn, observe those people that do it well. Then all you have to do is reverse engineer how they do the task or skill and then you can replicate this ideal performance and do it yourself.

What does awesome recognition look like? How can you learn to master this art and science of giving meaningful and effective recognition?

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Can You Drive Real Engagement Through Recognition?

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I heard Dr. Brad Shuck speak at Recognition Professionals Conference this past week in Atlanta, Georgia.

Brad’s presentation was about Driving Real Engagement Through Recognition: Applying the Core Principles of Behavioral Economics to Strategy Implementation. It’s a long mouthful of a presentation title but he had some great and valid principles we can all apply to what we do with employee recognition. 

What do you need to do now to prepare for giving recognition better tomorrow?

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You’ve Got To Really Know What You’re Thanking People For

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Never give a person an empty thank you.

You may have experienced the kind of thank you I’m talking about at some point in your life.

What is an empty thank you?

This is when a manager or immediate supervisor thanks an employee without being fully aware of all that was involved with the task being acknowledged. It is hollow gratitude and means very little or nothing at all. (more…)

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You Have to Believe in the Worth of People First

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Recognition itself depends solely on valuing people first before you can ever value anything they actually do.

Let me illustrate what I mean with this with an experience I had a few years back while working in Bangalore, India.

I was doing some recognition consulting work for a major global company. We were on the 12th floor of a regular office building and I was meeting with our hosts in the boardroom of their Indian corporate head office.

My client hosts were facing towards me and I was facing them with the window behind them. I couldn’t help but see something that was going on across the way through the large glass window.

It seems a new hotel was being built for a major hotel chain across the way. The concrete framing of the building appeared to be completed and I could see some men working.

What I am about to describe will help you question the intent and purpose of employee recognition where you work. (more…)

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How To Shape Diversity and Inclusion With Recognition

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There is a lot a talk lately about diversity and inclusion in the workplace.

A simple search of the combined terms yielded results of over 148 million references.

And I was recently asked a question about how employee recognition comes into play with both diversity and inclusion.

I think the question being asked was more about whether effective employee recognition practices can have any impact on diversity and inclusion.

Here are my thoughts. (more…)

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How To Better Appreciate Employee Contributions

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Studying how different organizations measure employee engagement often helps better understand other things – like the challenges managers and employees face with giving meaningful employee recognition.

Take for example Quantum Workplace and their employee engagement survey. One of the survey questions states, “If I contribute to the organization’s success, I know I will be recognized.” Respondents use a Likert scale to provide their perceptual rating.

This statement stimulated some thoughts for me. I am not convinced we make contributions in time, effort, talents and abilities in order to be recognized. I believe we do so with a desire to make a difference in the world and to achieve a personal, inner purpose.

However, to never be acknowledged at all for your contributions would certainly influence you to look elsewhere for employment where you hope to be better appreciated. (more…)