Maybe you’ve already gone through a budget cut. If not, it might still happen. And then again, if you’re lucky, hopefully you’ll never have to experience one.
Recognition programs, like education and training, and other areas perceived as “soft” things, are easy targets to cut.
How can you handle these budget cutting situations when they happen? What helpful advice can help you?
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It’s just as important to acknowledge the teams you work with, as it is to give individuals the recognition they deserve.
But, somehow, because of human nature, and sometimes a lack of proper management, you can end up with team dynamics that impede feeling good about team recognition.
For example, team members often ask the questions, “What if one team member doesn’t pull their weight on a work project and yet their included in the team recognition?”
It seems many issues crop up with team-based recognition. What are you supposed to do? How can you give people on teams proper recognition?
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Each organization, large or small, should have a written recognition strategy to position recognition at the forefront in their organization.
Michael Porter, in his classic Harvard Business Review article, “What Is Strategy?” states that “strategic positioning attempts to achieve sustainable competitive advantage by preserving what is distinctive about a company. It means performing different activities from rivals or performing similar activities in different ways.”
Naturally, Porter is speaking about a traditional business strategy and not about a recognition strategy.
But what can you learn from the wisdom of Michael Porter? Are there principles you can apply to crafting a recognition strategy? Let’s look carefully at his work. (more…)
Do your employees know the difference between recognition and rewards? Are managers and supervisors consistently praising and recognizing their direct reports for doing good work on a regular basis? Is peer-to-peer recognition happening through your social recognition newsfeed and face-to-face?
If you had a “no” to any one of those questions, you likely need to send out recognition messaging more often.
It might well be time to communicate what recognition is and why it is so important. You may need to tell everyone how easily they can recognize one another. Show them how to give meaningful and effective recognition.
I have written before about the importance of creating a Recognition Communications Calendar to support your recognition programs and practices. However, I was not as clear as I should have been, about what to include in your advanced communication planning.
You have to be strategic about the recognition messaging you want to convey throughout the company. Here are some quick thoughts to guide you. (more…)
There is a lot that can go into writing a recognition strategy so I thought I would outline some of the structural elements that you can draw upon to create a complete recognition strategy.
In my Recognition Strategy Model® approach to facilitating a written Recognition Strategy, I am a firm believer in formulating a Recognition Purpose and Recognition Philosophy statements.
I feel these become the North Star for leaders and employees to look at, understand immediately what they mean, and guide your recognition practices, rituals and programs.
So let’s take a look at the many components you may choose to include in crafting your organization’s Recognition Strategy. (more…)
Figure 1: Recognition Development Cycle
Ever been mesmerized watching the rinse cycle on your washing machine? Okay, so it has been a long time for me when I was in a laundromat in Belgium. You already know the rinse cycle is that quick automatic cycle that rinses your clothes with clean water and then spins them as dry as possible.
I feel there is an important cycle you have to repeatedly spin your recognition through to make it as strategic as possible with your business. Once you have a Recognition Development Cycle created it will automatically drives recognition and helps you with achieving your business goals. (more…)