weLEAD Online Magazine

leadingtoday.org

Caught In the Act – Part 2

How to acknowledge people without turning them off

By Jody Urquhart

In part 2 of Jody’s article, she continues her discussion of how to recognize others in innovative ways that are appreciated. To read part 1 of “Caught In The Act” click here.

So a manager knows the tangible goals and intangible skills individual employees are working towards and what specifically motivates each individual. Now comes the fun part…catch employees in the act of doing well, and acknowledge them with informal rewards. Here are some examples:

· A day off

· Surprise them with coffee and a danish at a coaching session

· Give them time off to volunteer

· Personal thank you note

· A sincere verbal thank you that points out what they did well

· Balloon O’ Gram to their home

· Other Employees Could Make a Skit About Them

· Help out with day care

· Gift certificate for free massage

· Time off for a family event

· Have an acknowledgement newsletter where you spotlight employees doing well

· Movie passes, dinner certificates

· Drycleaning vouchers

To really increase the impact, make sure the rewards are personal. Think of your employees’ personal situations and be creative to match the reward with their needs. If an employee has a son who loves hockey, reward him with tickets to a hockey game. An employee has a daughter who is getting married? Give them a subscription to a bridal magazine or bridal show. An employee has a spouse who has cancer. Give them paid time off to volunteer for this cause. An employees’ son just got his driver’s license? Give him a book about handling teenage drivers. An employee who loves to golf? Get him a round of golf. Help pay for elder care for employees who have aging parents.

It takes two things; getting to know employees personally, and being creative in the way you reward.

A Culture of Appreciation

The best form of acknowledgment is grounded in the idea that people work because they are committed and want to work. This assumes people work for reasons other than simply receiving pay at the end of the week or an award at the end of a project. Many people do work for these external reasons, but sometimes this is because the workplace encourages them to. Work and accomplishment is natural and should be treated as such. As Alfie Kohn observes in Punish by Reward, “When responsible action, the natural love of learning, and the desire to do good work are already part of who we are, then the tacit assumption to the contrary can be fairly described as dehumanizing.”

Consider a company with an attitude of appreciation that is a routine part of every day. Everyone is continually appreciating everyone else. You don’t have to be a manager to acknowledge someone else. Employees are aware of the specific projects or roles their colleagues are involved in and what their strengths are, and are on the lookout to catch people doing well. This culture assumes people are out to do their best and regularly notices them doing it. Sincere and genuine appreciation is forthcoming. Employees are at their best because their standards of excellence are their own.

Keys to Better Performance

How do you create this kind of a culture of appreciation?

1) Avoid awards that set people apart from each other, such as programs for the top sales person. Only one person can win this award, so only few will try. It also separates winners from losers.

2) Let employees set their own goals, help them understand how it helps the team and company, and acknowledge their contribution.

3) Encourage employees to acknowledge others daily. Set up an informal network, like a newsletter or bulletin board where people can brag about their colleagues.

4) Give employees the opportunity during meetings to talk about what they accomplished that week. In other words, let them brag about themselves.

5) Recognize people for their strengths on more than specific projects or achievements. How does each individual’s strength contribute to the team as a whole?

6) Make every employee aware of other’s strengths and give them a chance to learn from one another.

7) Continually recognize the achievements of the group as a whole. Savor the feeling of achievement.

8) Reinforce the value of the work itself. How employees function contributes to the community and their customers.

9) Celebrate the vision of where the company is going and how the group, made up of the individuals in it, is helping get there.

10) Design incentives to award departments as a whole, where everyone is awarded for the group’s accomplishments.

Create a work environment where people will wish to contribute and succeed. They create the expectation of involvement. To help your employees and managers work together toward common ends, incorporate your corporate core values into the program. If your organization touts customer service, include a section on the performance evaluation that provides feedback about customer service.

Motivating Without the Carrot

Motivating people individually means scrapping the generic reward system. No more rewards for top sales or performance. Instead reward people once you notice them doing well. Incorporate soft skills into your evaluation too. What we can accomplish has more to do with what we THINK we can do than what we actually can do. Think about this. If you are convinced you can’t meet your “impossible quota”, what are the chances you will? Very slim, almost as if to prove yourself right. Sometimes all people need to accomplish something is a motivation or force helping them believe they can do it. Managers can be that force. In fact, maybe this is the main role of the manager, to see better in others than they can see in themselves. Show employees the next level of accomplishment and help them believe they can do it. Once an employee accomplishes something, it raises their individual standard of performance.

Bottom Line

Companies with an attitude of appreciation are proud of the achievements of all employees and departments. They are aware of the strengths of each individual in helping realize the corporate vision. Communicating this vision is their strong point. Acknowledging people this way can dramatically change the way people interact with each other and with customers. In conclusion, here are some simple but powerful ideas to communicate your appreciation.

Personalized reward Idea File:

· Personal thank you note

· Concert tickets

· Sports tickets

· Small certificates they can redeem for a “gift of their choice”

· A day off

· Animal shaped balloons

· A favorite candy bar

· Give them a day to do (or job shadow) any job they want

· Give someone a day to visit another department and report back to their co-workers about the experience

· Leave a voicemail saying thank you

· Have a "Treasure Chest," where they select gifts from items such as coffee mugs, pen sets and movie tickets

· Send an email (thank you, I noticed…)

· Ask employees to write a list of small things they like and reward them with these

· Ask employees their favorite color and put rewards on their desk of this color (pens, mugs, balloons, etc)

· Buy lunch

· When someone does something, put their name in an annual draw for prizes

· Donate money to a charity of their choice in their name

· Employee appreciation lunches

· Personalized memo pads, pens, etc

· “I believe in you” recognition pieces for people struggling toward a harder goal over a longer time

· Send an employee to an industry conference

Other Resources:

Fast Feedback, by Bruce Tulgan.

The 8 Best Practices of Exceptional Companies, by Jac Fitz-Enz.

Constructive Appraisals, by Roy Lecky-Thompson.

Bob Nelson, author of the best-selling 1001 Ways to Reward Employees (Workman Publishing, 1994) and 1001 Ways to Energize Employees (Workman Publishing, 1997)

Performance Appraisals, by SHRM Information Center.

Comments to: ido@idoinspire.com

BACK TO weLEAD HOME PAGE

About the author:

Jody Urquhart, a popular speaker and writer, is recognized in Canada, the United States and Europe, She has presented her signature topic, Joy of Work, to 65 organizations last year alone. Her monthly column on the same subject appears in over fifty trade journals. Jody is also an associate speaker for the Individual Development Organization in Vancouver where she works with Bill Clennan, the Dean of Canadian Speakers.

Jody holds diplomas in Professional Speaking and Writing from Mount Royal College and in Management and Marketing from the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology. She studied Management for three years at the University of Calgary. Her business experience includes management positions in both the banking and retail industries. Jody is a proud member of the Canadian Association of Professional Speakers and holds the distinction of being one of its founding board members. Jody is the author of the book “ALL WORK & NO SAY TAKES THE PASSION AWAY”. To order your copy, or to discuss having Jody speak at your next meeting, feel free to email her at ido@idoinspire.com