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In my doctoral research on why managers use or don’t use recognition with their employees, I found the top variable distinguishing those managers who use recognition was that they had each internalized the importance of the practice and felt it was their <\/em>responsibility\u2014not Corporate’s or Human Resources’\u2014to create the motivational environment for their people.\u00a0 They truly believed that recognizing their deserving employees played an integral part in how those workers felt about their jobs. Since our behaviors stem from our beliefs, this belief improved their ability to look for, and act upon, opportunities to recognize others, and to do so on a daily basis.<\/span><\/p>\n This finding coincides amazingly well with what my research shows are the most important ways that employees prefer to be recognized when they do good work\u2014that is, simple day-to-day behaviors that any manager can express with their employees, the most important of which is praise.\u00a0The best praise is done soon, specifically, sincerely, personally, positively, and proactively. In a matter of seconds, a simple praise conveys, “I saw what you did, I appreciate it, here’s why it’s important, and here’s how it makes me feel”\u2014a lot of punch in a small package!\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Four out of the top ten categories of motivators reported by employees in my research are the following:\u00a0 personal praise, written praise, electronic praise, and public praise.\u00a0 Now you might say, “Are these really different types of praise?\u00a0 Doesn’t any type of praise have the same effect?\u201d\u00a0 This was my initial thought too, but I learned that these types of praise are mutually exclusive, that is, they are distinct from one another.\u00a0 To praise someone in person means something different to that person than to write him or her a note or praise, and these forms of praise are both different from praising the person in public. To get the maximum impact out of this simple behavior, vary the forms you use, and use them all frequently.\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n I have never run into anyone who says “I’ve just had it up to here with you telling me how good I am! Knock it off!!”\u00a0 The truth is while other forms of recognition may lose their luster or have a diminished impact with repeated use, effective praise never goes out of style\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n Research by Dr. Gerald Graham of Wichita State University supports these observations. In multiple studies he found that the type of reward employees most preferred was personalized, instant recognition from their direct supervisors. In fact, in another survey of American workers, 63 percent of the respondents ranked “a pat on the back” as a meaningful incentive.\u00a0In Graham’s studies, employees perceived that manager-initiated rewards for performance were done least often, and that company-initiated rewards for presence (that is, rewards based simply on being in the organization) occurred most often. Dr. Graham concluded, “It appears that the techniques that have the greatest motivational impact are practiced the least, even though they are easier and less expensive to use.”\u00a0 Graham’s study determined the Top 5 Motivating Techniques<\/strong> reported by employees to be:<\/span><\/p>\n Only 42 percent of the respondents believed that their managers typically used the top motivating technique in which a manager personally congratulates employees who do a good job. Less than 25 percent of the respondents felt the other top factors were being typically used.\u00a0Ideally, you should vary the ways you recognize your staff while still trying to do things on a day-to-day basis.\u00a0For example, Robin Horder-Koop, manager of programs and services at Amway Corporation, the distributor of house and personal-care products and other goods in Ada, MI, uses these inexpensive ways to recognize the 200 people who work for her on a day-to-day basis:<\/span><\/p>\n Other inexpensive ideas Horder-Koop uses to recognize employees include giving flowers to employees who are commended in customers’ letters, having supervisors park employees’ cars one day a month and designating days when workers can come in late or wear casual clothes to the office.\u00a0According to author and management consultant Rosabeth Moss Kanter, “Recognition\u2014saying thank you in public and perhaps giving a tangible gift along with the words\u2014has multiple functions beyond simple human courtesy. To the employee, recognition signifies that someone noticed and someone cares. What is the point of going all out to do something special if no one notices and it does not seem to make a whit of difference? To the rest of the organization, recognition creates role models\u2014 heroes\u2014and communicates the standards: These are the kinds of things that constitute great performance around here.” Following are some guidelines Kanter offers for successfully recognizing employees:<\/span><\/p>\n Principle 1:<\/strong> Emphasize success rather than failure. You tend to miss the positives if you are busily searching for the negatives.<\/span><\/p>\n Principle 2:<\/strong> Deliver recognition and reward in an open and publicized way. If not made public, recognition loses much of its impact and defeats much of the purpose for which it is provided.<\/span><\/p>\n Principle 3:<\/strong> Deliver recognition in a personal and honest manner. Avoid providing recognition that is too ‘slick’ or overproduced.<\/span><\/p>\n Principle 4:<\/strong> Tailor your recognition and reward to the unique needs of the people involved. Having many recognition and reward options will enable management to acknowledge accomplishment in ways appropriate to the particulars of a given situation, selecting from a larger menu of possibilities.<\/span><\/p>\n Principle 5:<\/strong> Timing is crucial. Recognize contribution throughout a project. Reward contribution close to the time an achievement is realized. Time delays weaken the impact of most rewards.<\/span><\/p>\n Principle 6:<\/strong> Strive for a clear, unambiguous and well-communicated connection between accomplishments and rewards. Be sure people understand why they receive awards and the criteria used to determine rewards.<\/span><\/p>\n Principle 7:<\/strong> Recognize recognition. That is, recognize people who recognize others for doing what is best for the company.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n Personal Praise & Recognition<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n The most important type of recognition is that which occurs on a day-to-day basis\u2014where the rubber meets the road!\u00a0 In my research with employees, 99.4 percent reported it was somewhat, very or extremely important for them to be recognized by their manager when they do good work, and 73 percent of employees expected recognition to occur either immediately or soon thereafter they did a good job. Of all types of praise, personal praise is considered to be the most important by employees. Employees reported the following items as being very or extremely important to them: “being personally thanked for doing good work” (88 percent); “being given a verbal praising” (86 percent); “being sought out by a manager to be commended” (82 percent); and “praising an employee for good work in front of another person” (61 percent).<\/span><\/p>\n The gap between the amount of praise managers think they give their employees and the amount employees report receiving is universally wide.\u00a0 For example, Bob Levoy, president of Success Dynamics Inc. reports “I’ve asked more than 2,500 doctors to rank on a scale of 1 to 5 (1 = never, 5 = always) the following statement: “I let my employees know when they’re doing a good job.”\u00a0 Their average response is 4.4.\u00a0 I then ask their staff members to rank the statement “The doctor lets me know when I’m doing a good job,” and their average response is only 1.7.\u00a0 This difference between what doctors say they give and what employees say they get is often the underlying cause of employee resentment, diminished productivity and turnover.”\u00a0 This “feedback gap” is present in almost every manager-employee relationship.<\/span><\/p>\n “One of the greatest challenges for leaders is letting people know when they’re doing a great job. Seventy percent of the leaders I work with don’t think they are doing as good of a job in providing recognition as they should.\u00a0One of my clients who was using 360-degree feedback scored a 6 percentile one year in the area of ‘Provides Adequate Positive Recognition.’ One year later, he moved up to a 94 percentile. What he did was a great strategy for leaders everywhere.<\/span><\/p>\n “First, he listed the key groups of people that impacted his life:\u00a0 his friends, family, direct reports, colleagues, and customers. Then he listed the names of each of the people who were in that group. Then twice a week, once on Wednesday and once on Friday, he would look at the list and ask himself, ‘Did anyone on this page do anything I should recognize?’ If they did, he’d send them a little note, an e-mail, or a voicemail, to say ‘thank you.’ He didn’t do anything that took over a couple of minutes. If nobody on the list did something he should recognize, he did nothing. He didn’t want to appear to be false, to be a phony.\u00a0By following this simple technique, in one year he went from a 6 percentile in giving recognition to a 94 percentile. I have recommended this strategy to many leaders and have never seen it not work. It can help you, too, to do a great job in providing more positive recognition to those that are most important to you in your life.”<\/span><\/p>\n It’s the daily interactions that add up to define our relationships at work. It\u2019s the little things that managers do or do not do that can end up making a big difference in how others feel about working with and for you and being a part of the organization.\u00a0 A systematic focus on the positive that serves as a foundation and buffer to the negative challenges, problems, complaints, stress, etc. when those things occur.\u00a0Whereas most positive day-to-day interactions are apt to be smaller in focus with little or no cost, with some thought and planning you can be prepared to do more significant things as well.\u00a0\u00a0For example, if someone closes a big sale or finishes a significant project, you can ask your president or CEO to call the person to personally thank him or her.\u00a0 While you might not be able to do that every day, it’s an out-of-the-ordinary yet simple form of thanks you can call upon for special circumstances.\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n Remember: the best personal praise is timely, sincere, and specific.\u00a0 Create time to connect with each of your employees — even if it\u2019s over coffee or lunch — to see how they are doing and to thank them for all they\u2019ve done.\u00a0 You could even, on occasion, personally praise each of your employees when your staff gets together for a meeting.\u00a0 (If you use this tactic, make sure you find something positive to say about everyone present so that no one feels left out.)\u00a0You can praise employees directly, you can praise them in front of others, or you can praise them when they are not around (a concept sometimes known as “positive gossip”) knowing that this indirect praise will get back to the individual or individuals who are commended.\u00a0 For some employees, indirect recognition is the most credible because it is done without any expectation in return.\u00a0 It essentially says: “My boss must have thought what I did was important to have brought it up to the entire management team!”<\/span><\/p>\n Try working sincere thanks into your daily activities on an ongoing basis. For example, make it a habit to greet people with 100 percent focus, as if you had all the time in the world for them, even if you only have a few minutes.\u00a0Give them your undivided attention and if that is not possible, tell them that you are distracted and would like to get back to them when you could better focus on them, their needs, and your conversation.\u00a0Do you light up a room when you enter it or when you leave it?\u00a0 When you walk into your office in the morning, think of it as though you are stepping onto a stage. Direct eye contact and a simple smile go a long way to communicate to others that they are important to you.\u00a0When someone leaves the office at the end of the day, say good-bye and thank them for their effort that day.\u00a0 When asking employees about great managers they had worked for over their career, I\u2019ve had more than one person tell me how such a manager would thank them for being there every day before they went home.\u00a0 A simple courtesy, yes, but one that employees noted and valued. \u00a0For example, Nikki Burns of Miami Valley Hospital in Dayton, OH, says she tries to say \u201cthank you\u201d to every employee as he or she leaves for the day, and has been told by many how much that means to them. Nothing beats simple, day-to-day for building a foundation of trust and goodwill.<\/span><\/p>\n A survey by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources found that recognition activities contributed significantly to employees’ job satisfaction. Most respondents said they highly valued day-to-day recognition from their supervisors, peers and team members. Other findings from the survey:<\/span><\/p>\n Only 8 percent thought that people should not look for praise for their work efforts. \u00a0<\/span>Nancy Branton, project manager for the survey, says, “Recognition is more important now than in the past. Employees increasingly believe that their job satisfaction depends on acknowledgment of work performance as well as on adequate salary. This is especially true of employees who are highly interested in their work and take satisfaction in their achievements.”<\/span><\/p>\n Organizations can greatly influence the use of positive recognition on a daily basis by providing training, tools, activities and programs to foster that behavior, examples of which will be provided throughout this book.\u00a0 The Tennant Company, a manufacturer in Minneapolis, MN, for example, has a Positive Feedback Committee that each year sponsors a Positive Feedback Day celebration, on which all employees receive “That-A-Way” notepads, pens printed with the phrase “Positive Strokes Only,” balloons and signs. At holiday time, the committee sponsors an open house with cider and cookies and invites employees to drop by at scheduled breaks.\u00a0 Following are other examples of how managers connect with their employees on a day-to-day basis.<\/span><\/p>\n Randy Niendorff of Lucent Technologies\/Audya Communications in Denver, CO, stops by employees\u2019 desks \u201cjust to see how things are going today.\u201d He reports that it\u2019s a pleasant surprise for employees to see him, even when things are going well, and that they appreciate his accessibility.<\/span><\/p>\n When Greg Peel a zone manager for Paychex in Dallas, TX, sees an employee working really hard he calls that person\u2019s mother and thanks her.<\/span><\/p>\n Hyler Bracey, president and CEO of the Atlanta Consulting Group places five coins in his pocket each day.\u00a0 During the day, he’d transfer a coin to his other pocket every time he recognized an employee for good work.\u00a0 That techniques helped Bracey make praise a habit.<\/span><\/p>\n One store manager for Long’s Drugs brings a silver dollar into work on Monday morning and gives it to a supervisor who is asked to praise one of their employees before handing the coin off to another supervisor.\u00a0 If the coin gets around to all the supervisors in the store by the end of the week, the manager brings in donuts to the supervisor’s meeting at the end of the week.<\/span><\/p>\n Top military officers in several branches of the military use coin medallions as personal recognition items and one bank president gold-plates quarters and hands them to deserving employees when their performance warrants special recognition. Other companies have used wooden nickels, regular nickels or even green glass pebbles as symbolic recognition items for work well done.<\/span><\/p>\n One task-oriented top manager at Qwest Communications in Denver, CO, reminds himself to recognize others by listing his employees\u2019 names on his \u201cto do\u201d list each week. Then, one-by-one, he crosses each person off the list when he has had a chance to acknowledge that person for some aspect of his performance or behavior, such as reaching a project milestone or delivering exceptional customer service. He says it\u2019s his way to \u201cturn the people aspect of my job into manageable tasks I can focus on each week.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Baltimore Orioles manager Ray Miller didn’t get much personalized attention from his coaches as a minor league pitcher back in the ’60s and ’70s. “The way I was treated hurt me,” he recalls. Miller learned from experience that paying attention to players is important, whether they are performing well or not. To be sure that he communicates with all players. Miller keeps a “Talk-to List” on a yellow legal pad. “Just talking really matters,” Miller says. “Take Cal Ripken. If he is playing great and for some reason you don’t talk for four or five days, he looks at you and says, ‘What’s wrong?'” Miller has learned an important lesson: Feedback and recognition go a long way.<\/span><\/p>\n Store managers at the St. Ann branch of Famous-Barr department stores, based in St. Louis, MO, go to each employee at the end of the day to see what went well for them that day, rather than wait for a weekly or monthly report. Those positive items are worked into the next morning\u2019s store rally. \u201cIt\u2019s been a very effective way to reinforce good news on a timely basis and charge employees up to do their best every single day,\u201d says Dan Eppler, merchandise sales manager for the company.<\/span><\/p>\n The Houston Business Journal<\/em> encourages managers to recognize all employees for deserving efforts. At the end of each day, managers ask themselves: \u201cDid I offer recognition to someone today?\u201d If not, they take a few minutes to do so.<\/span><\/p>\n Joe DeLuce, Director of Recreation for Champaign Park District in Champaign, IL, says it’s important to bring up the topic of praise with your staff:\u00a0 “In our department staff meetings we recently asked everyone to say when they last thanked someone. Every one of the thirty people in the room talked about how they had thanked one of their staff or someone else in our department that day or within the last week. One staff member talked about one of her staff members going above and beyond and since that staff person was in the room, it became very emotional.\u00a0 We talked about how important it is to thank people for doing outstanding work and that we want to be a department that appreciates others.”<\/span><\/p>\n Robert Maurer in his book, One Small Step Can Change Your Life<\/em>, describes working with a reluctant manager, Michael, to get him to start using praise with his employees:<\/span><\/p>\n “I asked him to imagine giving a person from his department a specific, detailed compliment in an enthusiastic tone of voice, as if there were no problems at all with this person’s work.\u00a0 He was to imagine how he would stand in front of the person, how it would feel to approach the person with a relaxed, open posture, how his voice would sound, and what any ambient sounds or smells might be.<\/span><\/p>\n “I wanted Michael to start with compliments for a couple of reasons.\u00a0 Like most people, Michael found it easier to give compliments than criticism.\u00a0 But I also knew that a likely result of letting trouble in his department percolate for too long was that Michael would see his employees as nothing but a collection of problems.\u00a0 And from another perspective, psychological research clearly shows that people who feel underappreciated tend to resent criticism and ignore the advice they’re given.\u00a0 By practicing giving compliments, Michael was not only learning to feel comfortable doing something that felt unnatural to him.\u00a0 He was also developing a skill that would increase the satisfaction and productivity of his employees.<\/span><\/p>\n The small, active steps that mental rehearsal enabled him to take, taught Michael a new set of skills.\u00a0 It also gave him a taste for the ease and the rewards of applying them.\u00a0 At the end of three months, Michael found himself stopping in the hallways to give fifteen or twenty seconds of immediate feedback to deserving employees.<\/span><\/p>\n According to Phoebe Farrow Port, vice president of Estee Lauder, founder Leonard Lauder spent a limited amount of time with executives on store visits, preferring to meet with floor people. Says Phoebe, \u201cOne day, I saw him reach across a counter and say, \u2018Sorry to interrupt. My name is Leonard Lauder. I hear you are one of the beauty advisors. Thank you for everything you are doing for Estee Lauder.\u2019\u201d As they walked away on one such occasion, Port said, \u201cMr. Lauder, you\u2019re so good at this.\u201d He said. \u201cI put myself on a quota of three thank you\u2019s a day years ago. I suggest you do the same.\u201d Says Phebe, \u201cEverywhere the man goes, he writes a personal note to whomever he meets.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n <\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n Written Praise & Recognition<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n Written praise, considered by employees the next most valued type of praise, comes in several varieties.\u00a0 Here is how employees ranked different forms in terms of their importance to them:\u00a0 “letters of praise are placed in the employee’s personnel file” (72 percent); “being given a written praise” (61 percent); “being given a written note of thanks” (59 percent); and “being given a thank you card” (48 percent).\u00a0\u00a0A survey by Professional Secretaries International revealed that as many as 30 percent of professional secretaries would prefer a simple letter of appreciation from their managers\u2014and that a bouquet or a lunch was unnecessary. But only 7 percent of respondents reported having ever received such a letter. In another study, positive written communication was found to be very important in motivating employees; however, this technique was used by only 24 percent of managers.<\/span><\/p>\n Writing notes to employees who have performed well at the end of the day is an effective recognition strategy, claims Steve Wittert, president of Paragon Steakhouse Restaurants based in San Diego.\u00a0 Wittert finds that his days are so busy that he seldom can take time out to recognize his staff.\u00a0 Instead, he keeps a stack of note cards on this desk, and when the pace slows at the end of the day, he takes a few minutes to jot personal notes to the individuals who made a difference that day.\u00a0In past years, I\u2019ve taken time to write an individual letter to each of my employees, specifically listing highlights of their performance I was proud of over the past year.\u00a0 This takes less time than you might think and the impact on the employees is more significant than you might imagine!\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Joe Floren of Tektronix, Inc., a manufacturer of oscilloscopes and other electronic instruments located in Beaverton, OR, likes to tell the story of the You Done Good Award. A former communications manager, Floren recalls having coffee a number of years ago with his boss, a vice president. The boss said he’d been mulling over a problem stemming from the company’s rapid growth. He thought the company was getting so big that it needed a formal recognition program. He had read some personnel handbooks on the subject and began telling Floren about several variations on the gold watch traditionally given for time served.\u00a0The boss’s proposition sounded ludicrous to Floren. The boss challenged Floren to come up with something better. Floren suggested drawing up a notecard called the You Done Good Award and letting any employee send it to any other employee.\u00a0To Floren’s surprise, the vice president agreed. Floren had some note cards printed and started distributing them. They caught on, and the informal awards have become part of life in the company. “Even though people say nice things to you,” Floren says, “it means something more when people take the time to write their name on a piece of paper and say it. Employees usually post them next to their desks.”<\/span><\/p>\n Janis Allen, a performance management consultant, tells the story of a group of officers she was training in the Department of the Army. One person in particular, a colonel, showed great resistance to the use of any reinforcers. A week or so after the seminar, the colonel’s manager\u2014 a general\u2014wanted to praise him for his handling of an important presentation. The general found a piece of yellow construction paper, folded it in half and wrote “Bravo” on the front. Then he wrote his reinforcing remarks inside.\u00a0The colonel was called in, praised and handed the card. “He took it and read it,” Allen says. “He didn’t even look up when he finished. He just stood up abruptly without even making eye contact, turned and walked out of the office.” The general thought, “Wow, I’ve done something wrong now.” He thought maybe he had offended the colonel.\u00a0When the general went to check on the colonel, he found that he had stopped at every office on the way out and was showing off the “Bravo” card. He was smiling and everybody was congratulating him.\u00a0The colonel subsequently printed his own recognition cards with “Wonderful” on the front. They became his signature reinforcers.<\/span><\/p>\n At Sea World in San Diego, CA, team leaders give \u201cspotlight cards\u201d to employees when they see them\u00a0 doing something well. They write down what they saw and what they liked about it, get at least two other leaders or supervisors to sign the card, and then present it to the employee. A copy is also posted on the employee bulletin board.<\/span><\/p>\n Kelly McNamara at Raytheon Aircraft Company wanted to cut down on all the red tape before an employee could be rewarded. So she and her team brought back an award used many years ago by Beechcraft, a company that Raytheon acquired in the early 1980s, which could be given to anyone by anyone in the company with no approval required.\u00a0 Employee-to-employee thank you notes feature the \u201cBeechcraft Busy Bee\u201d cartoon.<\/span><\/p>\n In Atlanta, GA, Wellstar Health System created a simple peer-to-peer leadership recognition program called “The Seven Attributes of Stars.” According to Wellstar, these attributes are: communicating, global thinking, people developing, lifelong learning, innovating, goal-achieving, and service-leading. Managers are given printed notepads and asked to check off the attributes that are embodied by fellow leaders, and to describe why they should be recognized for them. Any leader who is recognized for five or more attributes is publicly acknowledged at the next quarterly leadership meeting and gets to select a book from among five choices.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n A CASE STUDY IN WRITTEN PRAISE<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n When it comes to recognizing employees, most companies have trouble holding their managers accountable.\u00a0 After all, how can you make someone be nice to their employees?\u00a0 Plus, if you do force them to do something they don’t want to do, won’t they resent it and undermine your effort, anyway?\u00a0They didn’t think so at Bronson Healthcare Group in Kalamazoo, MI, currently ranked as one of the Best Places to Work in America by Fortune magazine.\u00a0 As an organization, six to seven years ago they decided to stop focusing on the small number of people who do not conform to their expectations and to start focusing, recognizing and rewarding the 95 percent who were working hard and doing good work.\u00a0 It took some four years to ingrain this philosophy, explains Susan Ulshafer, senior vice president of human resources and organizational development, and Marilyn Potgieser, director of human resources, but a systematic focus on their recognition practices have clearly made them an employer of choice.<\/span><\/p>\n For example, they asked all managers to write twelve thank you notes a quarter to employees.\u00a0 Initially, some managers rolled their eyes at this, but they told those managers if workforce excellence was part of their strategic plan (which it is), this activity needed to be a performance objective and accountability for all their leaders.\u00a0 The leaders thus are asked to make copies of the notes they write to their employees to provide to their own managers as proof they are doing the behavior.\u00a0 Human resources does random “spot checks” of managers, asking to see copies of their thank you notes, and if a manager didn’t have them, he or she would be asked to schedule a “little talk” with the senior leader of their group.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n They’ve never had to schedule a second talk with any manager, because managers got the message the organization was serious about this activity.\u00a0Better yet, managers who started using the notes quickly found they got rewarded by their employees for the notes they did!\u00a0 (This coincides with my own research that has found the top reinforcer for managers who use recognition comes from their own employees.)\u00a0 Now new leaders to the organization are oriented and trained about the practice and expectation from the start of their job.\u00a0The thank you note program has since expanded so that managers now send notes to employee’s families and even children (sometimes with coupons for ice cream for them to take their parents out!) and employees are increasingly writing more thank you notes to their peers.\u00a0\u00a0As a result of all this focus (and related activities) their turnover has drastically dropped and they now have a waiting list for employees who would like to work at their hospital.\u00a0 In addition they have become a “best practice” in several national data bases for nurse retention as well as being named on Fortune’s 100 Best Companies to Work for in America and Working Mothers Best Employer list.\u00a0It just goes to show that a simple activity such as written recognition can be taken seriously and those who do so are apt to get the best results!\u00a0 Following are other real-life examples of effective written recognition.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Markeeta Graban, associate director of the department of psychiatry at the University of Michigan Health System, reports: \u201cIt\u2019s really true that anything can be a significant form of recognition. Over three years ago I drew a star on a piece of scrap paper, colored it, and gave it to someone for helping me out that day. They in turn gave it to someone else. It took on special significance with each use. Now we have it on a magnetic backing and pass it on to someone who has helped or is having a rough day. People love it!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWe try to emphasize peer-to-peer recognition on our Organizational Development Team,\u201d reports Debbie Liles, supervisor of OD at EMC Mortgage Corporation.\u00a0 One of the ways they do that is by using a form called the Appreciation\/Recognition Form. Teammates complete the form when they observe a teammate exhibiting the behavior(s) EMC Mortgage values.\u00a0 These are deposited in a beautifully decorated box throughout the month.\u00a0 At every monthly team meeting all the certificates deposited in the box for the month are read out loud during the \u201drecognition\u201d portion of their agenda. The certificate recipients then get to pick out their favorite candy bar or healthy snack from the reward grab bag.<\/span><\/p>\n CalPERS, the California Personnel Retirement System, based in Sacramento, CA, uses “Steady as a Rock” note cards shaped in an image of a rock to recognize behind-the-scenes daily performance by coworkers who can also receive a mounted rock as a pass-around award.<\/span><\/p>\n The New England Aquarium allows employees to recognize coworkers with a \u201cthank-you cod\u201d (a card shaped like a cod fish)\u2014a play on the New England accent. \u201cHalf of the card goes to the employee and the other half into a quarterly lottery for gift certificates for paid time off, the company store, and local restaurants,\u201d reports Linda Hower, learning technologist for Gilbane University in Providence, RI.<\/span><\/p>\n Ginny Heard, supervisor of member correspondence at AARP in Lakewood, CA, has a very simple yet effective recognition technique she developed when previously employed with Airborne Express.\u00a0 She cut an apple shape out of construction paper, wrote inside the apple: “Look for Teachable Moments,” and used the note as an icebreaker for discussing a learning point or lesson in an employee’s job.\u00a0 The award became popular in the organization and many other managers followed her lead.\u00a0 Everyone liked receiving the apples as well and the notes became collectables.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cA more informal way that we recognize\/appreciate team members at EMC Mortgage Corporation in Irving, TX is through \u2018Notes to My Terrific Teammate,\u2019” reports Debbie Liles. The idea behind the notes on colored paper posted on teammates\u2019 walls, is to write the teammates\u2019 notes of thanks for things they’ve done, but to do it when they are not around, so they are pleasantly surprised by the latest “fan mail.”\u00a0 When the sheets are filled up, more sheets are passed out.<\/span><\/p>\n If one of Marty Stowe\u2019s employees at the New England Regional Office for Paychex in Boston, MA, is working extremely hard Stowe writes a hand-written note to tell his or her spouse. If this employee really outdoes himself, Stowe will give them (wife & husband) a gift certificate for dinner for two.<\/span><\/p>\n In Dodgeville, WI, Lands\u2019 End employee Becky Frederick tells how CEO Mike Smith personally reviews all of his mail. If he finds a letter from a customer who mentions an employee by name, he jots a simple note to the employee and forwards a copy of the letter to the person. Employees love these personal kudos from the CEO and will post them in their work cubicles.<\/span><\/p>\n Jimmy Collins, president of Chick-fil-A, the Atlanta-based restaurant chain, writes personal notes of thanks on P&L sheets returned to owner-operators.<\/span><\/p>\n Doubt that little acts of recognition mean a lot? In her book What I Saw at the Revolution,<\/em> former President Reagan’s speechwriter Peggy Noonan, writes about a personal note she received from the President. She had been writing for him for four months, and had not yet met him, when one day the President wrote “Very Good” on one of her speech drafts. First she stared at it. Then she took a pair of scissors and cut it off and taped it to her blouse, like a second-grader with a star. All day people noticed it and looked at her and she beamed back at them.<\/span><\/p>\n Joan Padgett of the learning resources center of Veterans\u2019 Medical Center in Dayton, OH, reports, \u201cI recently decided to take the time to give a welcome card to a new employee and wrote a personal note, saying: \u2018At the end of some days you\u2019ll feel elated; after some you\u2019ll feel completely drained; but may you always leave your office knowing you contributed to our organization.\u2019 The employee was thrilled and said she would keep the card always. Her emotional response convinced me of the value of giving cards to thank, congratulate, welcome, and celebrate employees.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Angela Gann at Kaiser Permanente sends personal notes to anyone she interviews for a job, but saves a really special greeting for the new hire, decorating the person\u2019s work station on the first morning with glitter stars or banners.<\/span><\/p>\n According to the department of Organization, Development and Training at Busch Gardens-Tampa, the company gives a Pat on the Back Award to employees who do an outstanding job, and sends a notice of the award to the employee’s file.<\/span><\/p>\n The San Francisco Business Times<\/em> had paper tablets printed with different headlines, such as \u201cSaved the Day,\u201d \u201cBit the Bullet,\u201d and \u201cWent Above and Beyond.\u201d Each employee was given some of the tablets to use whenever a fellow employee helped or did an exceptional job. Soon everyone had lots of the notes, and people were feeling more appreciated.<\/span><\/p>\n John Plunkett, director of employment and training for Cobb Electric Membership Corporation in Marietta, GA, says, “People love to collect others’ business cards. Simply carry a supply of your cards with you and as you ‘catch people doing something right,’ immediately write ‘Thanks,’ ‘Good job,’ ‘Keep it up’ and what they specifically did in two to three words. Put the person’s name on the card and sign it.”<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cAn engineer on my staff spent an extended amount of time on the road doing environmental evaluations of companies,\u201d reports Michael L. Horvath, director of environmental projects for FirstEnergy Corporation, headquartered in Akron, OH:\u00a0 \u201cI sent a letter to his three school-age children explaining why their dad was gone so much lately and that he was doing special \u2018secret agent\u2019 work that was very important for our company.\u00a0 His wife called the next day to say how excited their kids were that dad was a \u2018secret agent!\u2019\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n The “Reward of Excellence” program at Herbalife, the health and nutrition company based in Los Angeles, CA, uses two-part cards, called \u201cWOW\u201d cards, to recognize employees. Employees fill them out to praise coworkers for service, teamwork, etc. One part goes to the honoree, and the other part goes into a recognition box, whose contents are reviewed each month by a six-member recognition committee. The committee selects the best “WOW!” card employee, and posts the card on the “WOW!” bulletin board. The winner then gets points toward merchandise purchases, as well as raffle tickets for a cruise drawing, which is held at the end of every six months. All honorees are also automatically entered into the company’s “All Star” program for additional recognition and visibility.<\/span><\/p>\n To make the program as successful as possible, Herbalife started with a three-month trial period, during which they collected feedback and suggestions. For example, when they discovered that employees didn\u2019t like paying for the freight and handling for the merchandise they had selected, they built those amounts into the awards and slightly increased the number of points required. Besides increasing recognition, other benefits emerged as well. Ana Franklin, senior manager of the Order Support Department, identified three: 1) The program helped employees to set more specific goals and provided systematic tracking of results; 2) it costs less money than previous programs, yet has a longer term impact, replacing what had previously been a “hit-and-miss” approach (such as occasional distribution of gas cards and gift certificates); and 3) employees can now include their families in selecting merchandise, which is an added motivational incentive.<\/span><\/p>\n Jeffrey S. Wells, senior vice president of human resources for Circuit City Stores, Inc., based in Richmond, VA, has his administrative assistant place note cards on his desk each month for employees who have anniversaries with the company for Jeff to write them a personal note.\u00a0 He says it’s a time commitment, but well worth it and he enjoys keeping in touch with his employees in this small way.<\/span><\/p>\n Don Eggleston, director of organizational development at SSM Healthcare in St. Louis, MO, says, “I mark my calendar and then send cards or flowers to employees on the anniversary of important events in their lives. For example, I’ve sent cards on the anniversary of a parent’s death or for a child’s graduation or birthday. These are subtle ways of letting employees know I’m interested without prying into their lives. After all, we’re working with human beings, and we can all be more effective and sensitive if we understand one another better.”\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Electronic Praise & Recognition<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n Electronic praise is similar to written praise, but it is transmitted more readily and often with less effort than written praise. Praising via email, voicemail, cell phone, pager, fax, or other forms of technology is increasingly important to today’s employees who are spending more and more time on “electronic leashes,” interfacing more with their computer and less with their boss or coworkers. Today\u2019s office technology can make us more efficient at work, it also tends to have an alienating affect on employees in their jobs, creating more distance in work relationships and more stress as employees are increasingly expected to be \u201cavailable\u201d 24\/7. \u00a0In addition, the workplace itself is being redefined to include alternative work arrangements such as telecommuting, flexible working hours and job sharing. In fact, a new report by the Department of Labor, Futurework: Trends and Challenges for Work in the 21st<\/sup> Century<\/em>, found that roughly one in 10 workers fits into an alternative work arrangement, with nearly 80 percent of employers offering some form of nontraditional staffing arrangements, including some 60 percent that now allow telecommuting.\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n While telecommuting and virtual offices are becoming more prevalent, there are still a number of obstacles that threaten their success.\u00a0 Downsides of the virtual office include:<\/span><\/p>\n Other trends in the use of office technology are also emerging:\u00a0 A recent study by Pitney Bowes on messaging tools and practices reveals that U.S. workers are now receiving over 200 messages per day — more than ever before.\u00a0 Of the estimated 20 billion e-mail messages that are sent daily, an estimated 40 percent are unsolicited spam.\u00a0 What\u2019s the impact of this constant bombardment of messages and increased use of office technology?\u00a0 What can be done to minimize the problems of increased technology use? And how can managers best recognize employee performance when an employee may not even have physical contact with his or her manager for weeks or months at a time? A lot, I believe.\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n Managers must take a proactive role in fostering a sense of teamwork by establishing regular, mutually agreed-upon communication times. Telephone calls, e-mail messages, teleconferences, videoconferences and chat areas can all be conducted at an agreed-upon time or message boards can be used to have ongoing communication about progress on critical aspects of the team\u2019s work. Communicating in these ways gives virtual employees the opportunity to exchange ideas with team members, talk about the problems they may be having, discuss ways to improve, evaluate the team\u2019s progress, share ideas, get feedback, brainstorm new ideas, discuss strategies, and acknowledge successes when they occur. \u00a0For these reasons it is increasingly important to use technology in positive ways to reinforce good work and encourage the human spirit.\u00a0 Employees increasingly perceive electronic praise as important and a critical motivator in their jobs.\u00a0 For example, in research I’ve conducted, over 70 percent of employees indicate that having a positive email forwarded to them is very or extremely important to them, followed by “being copied on positive email messages” (65 percent); “being given a praising via email” (43 percent); and “being given a praising on voice mail” (26 percent).<\/span><\/p>\n Here\u2019s some additional advice that can help keep the human element at work even as we make a greater use of technology:\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n Since there tends to be a fine line of difference between stress and excitement in most jobs today, a positive use of technology can go a long way toward creating more positive working relationships and a more human and supportive work environment.\u00a0 Following are some other examples of how companies are harnessing the power of technology in a positive way.<\/span><\/p>\n Chris Higgins, senior vice president of project planning at Bank of America\u2019s Services Division in Virginia, says, \u201cIt is so important to give everyone credit. I always try to find out who is going above and beyond the call of duty. My team is usually spread out over the country, so I wander over the telephone wires or pop in unexpectedly on conference calls. I go out of my way to thank people for their work. It is not a huge effort; it mainly takes discipline, but has tremendous payoff.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n
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Question:\u00a0How do you close that gap? Management consultant Marshall Goldsmith offers the following advice:\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/h4>\n
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