EMPLOYEE RECOGNITION

When People Feel Appreciated, They Are Happier, Engaged And More Productive !!

Employee Recognition is a communication tool that reinforces and rewards the most important outcomes people create for your business. It is more critical than ever to make your staff feel recognized for their contributions.  When you recognize people effectively, you reinforce, with your chosen means of recognition, the actions and behaviors you most want to see people repeat. An effective employee recognition system is simple, immediate, and powerfully reinforcing.

What is so important about informal, manager-initiated recognition?

Recognition is all about feeling special, and more times than not, it is hard to feel special from a corporate program where everyone gets the same thing, like a five-year pin. To be effective, recognition needs to come from those we hold in high esteem, such as one's manager. The recognition should occur as close to the performance of the actions as possible, so the recognition reinforces behavior the employer wants to encourage.

What is necessary for delivering effective informal recognition?

Timing is the most important factor in delivering an effective recognition. The sooner you acknowledge employees' performance, the clearer they get the message, the more likely they are to repeat the desired performance. 

Recognition is most powerful when it's contingent. Companies will bring in doughnuts on Friday and give people cards on their birthday, and all of a sudden you've got an entitlement culture. If you do stuff just to be nice, people end up expecting more. So make recognition contingent upon desired behavior and performance; they'll value the recognition more and you'll get better results. Keep it fresh, relevant, and sincere. Any incentive has less punch with repeated use.

What kinds of recognition and rewards do employees want most?

According to an internet survey, that gave people choices of 52 items. The most desired factor they valued was "Managerial Support and Involvement"-- asking employees their opinions, involving them in decisions, giving them authority to do their jobs, supporting them when they make a mistake, and so forth. Also important were flexible working hours, learning and development opportunities, manager availability, and time.

Employees also want basic praise: personal praise, written praise, public praise, and electronic praise. These are the most demanding ones for people, and none of them costs a dime!

How do you choose what type of praise to use in a given situation?

To choose the most efficient type of praise to use in a given situation, weigh the below factors:

• Availability of the medium: How often do you actually see the individual -- do you manage him from a distance or does he telecommute? Do you have occasion for public praise such as periodic staff meetings?
• Employee preference: Do you know how the employee prefers to be praised -- have you ever discussed it with her? For example, an introvert employee would likely prefer a written or electronic note versus public recognition.
• Manager comfort zone: What forms of praise are you comfortable giving? If you feel awkward giving face to- face praise, go for a written or an electronic praise. If you are uncomfortable speaking publicly, it might be better to skip public praise for something that is more personal and sincere.

Are there special considerations to delivering recognition in tough economic conditions?

The times like recession, when we need to do it the most, we tend to do it least. Say you give a team award that used to come with 15,000 Rupees but because you can't afford the 15,000 Rupees, you stop giving the team award anymore. I say still give the team award. Say something like, "We've had to drop the financial aspect to hunker down, but it doesn't diminish the value of the job that this team did, especially at this time." When we are up against it, just a word of support, a team lunch, can go a very long way.

Rewards and recognition that help both the employer and the employee get what they need from work are a win-win situation. Make this the year you plan a recognition process that will "Wow" your staff and "Wow" you with its positive outcomes. 

Source: Harvard Business Review