Have one of your organizational leaders recently recognized you in person, or publicly, for a specific contribution you made?
It feels pretty good, doesn’t it?
The problem, though, is it doesn’t happen often enough.
Examining some research completed over the years might give us some insights why this is. From there, together we can make some suggestions about what you can do.
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Let’s set the scenario that you haven’t really been very good at giving recognition. It hasn’t been natural for you since you’ve only been a supervisor for less than a year. The leader you report to has set a performance management expectation for you to give more frequent recognition. They based all this on a recent employee engagement survey and the division you’re in didn’t do so well.
Now, HR has recently conducted training to show all supervisors and managers how to use the new online recognition program they launched at the beginning of the year.
But you have a problem. You’ve been hearing from workers that they don’t know how authentic and meaningful your recognition really is.
Here are some potential reasons this might be something you might need to work on.
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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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It’s hard to believe that the first Harry Potter fantasy novel written by British author J. K. Rowling came out in June 1997. I remember reading the first book to my youngest son while he lay in a hospital bed.
And if you missed reading all seven books in the Harry Potter series, you might have viewed the movies when they came out in theatres starting in 2001.
This was when we all started hearing about the spells Harry Potter and his various housemates and opponents used on people and surrounding objects.
But you can also give spellbinding recognition the same way as magical spells. Read the following with extra care.
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Many people have clicked on a previous version of this blog post wanting to learn how they should set up a point-based reward program.
Unfortunately, some individuals and recognition and reward providers suggest certain ideas as being best practices so the client’s employees will consume more points. So, buyer beware and let’s learn some principles versus supposed best practices to guide you.
My goal is to provide you with objective information along with solid principles for you to make wise decisions by. I will also give you some pros and cons for some options.
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Saying thank you to someone should be a wonderful expression and witness of our sincere appreciation and gratitude for a person and/or something they have done for us or others.
But what if the speaker of thanks is being manipulative with those two words that many of us long to hear? How do you know if they spoke the words with authenticity? Are they meaningful?
Let’s first examine what the words “thank you” mean.
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Some people raise the concern that to expect their managers to recognize their employees is too much on top of everything else they are doing.
However, since it is employees or associates who provide the goods and services that produce satisfied customers, appreciating your people is the very least you can do.
What they need to do is to raise managers’ level of intrinsic motivation for recognizing, praising, and rewarding staff, so they can become proficient at giving recognition and willing to do so every chance they get.
One way for people to give better and more meaningful recognition is to first find out what is meaningful to each of their employees.
I will review with your key ways to teach and help supervisors and managers to practice this needed skill.
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Bad things can happen when you’re in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Take the scenario of a young man I knew in his twenties making a quick purchase of snack foods and a pop at the local convenience store in the suburbs of Detroit, Michigan. Another man walks in to the store. But this man’s intent is to rob the convenience store of cash from the till.
This second man’s weapon of choice was a screwdriver. He stabbed the young man in the head because he was in the way. The stabbing penetrated his skull and brain resulting in motor brain damage as far as walking and use of his arm. But now he could not talk.
All he could say were approximations of consonant-vowel sounds like, “ma”, “ba”, “do”, or “to”.
This young man’s horrific life experience led me to learn how to give more meaningful recognition expressions using “I” talk language. I’ll explain.
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We all want to give people recognition that is valuable and meaningful.
The trouble is so few of us have been shown how to actually do this.
I think you can make something more valuable by putting in the extra time, effort and care needed to enhance the value of a person and their contributions.
Consider the jeweller who changes a diamond buried within the rough stone into a glorious and sparkling, multi-faceted gem.
This is exactly what you must do to give people the valuable and meaningful recognition they desire.
Like the diamond jeweller, valuable recognition requires specialized knowledge and techniques, and possibly tools and equipment to make it happen.
There is a simplified process for making diamonds I want to share with you.
I think you will find this process helpful, as I want you to think of yourself as bringing out the diamond in each of your employees. (more…)
Do you ever wonder why some employees just don’t feel appreciated for all the great things they are doing?
Perhaps it is because the expressions of recognition they receive are not done with meaningful intent.
You know…we’ve all heard the generic and routine phrases of, “Good job!” or “Well done!” spouted out like automatic speech around us.
I picked up on this idea of “intent” the one day when my wife and I gave our car a hand wash in our driveway. She was spraying the car down before we soaped it up. (more…)