Recognizing Employees for the Joy they Create
October 26, 2010
In his highly popular blog, Seth Godin writes about the importance of empowering your employees to create joy and recognizing them for it rather than focusing on those who break the rules and regs :
Organizing for joy
Traditional corporations, particularly large-scale service and manufacturing businesses, are organized for efficiency. Or consistency. But not joy.
McDonalds, Hertz, Dell and others crank it out. They show up. They lower costs. They use a stopwatch to measure output.
The problem with this mindset is that as you approach the asymptote of maximum efficiency, there’s not a lot of room left for improvement. Making a Chicken McNugget for .00001 cents less isn’t going to boost your profit a whole lot.
Worse, the nature of the work is inherently un-remarkable. If you fear special requests, if you staff with cogs, if you have to put it all in a manual, then the chances of amazing someone are really quite low.
These organizations have people who will try to patch problems over after the fact, instead of motivated people eager to delight on the spot.
The alternative, it seems, is to organize for joy. These are the companies that give their people the freedom (and yes, the expectation) that they will create, connect and surprise. These are the organizations that embrace someone who makes a difference, as opposed to searching for a clause in the employee handbook that was violated.
Can’t Buy Me Love: Points Not Required in Successful Employee Recognition Programs
September 19, 2010
I recently heard that a rewards & recognition company hosts annual Customer Appreciation events to celebrate the organizations that give out the most points in the year. I kid you not.
Given that they derive their revenues from the sale of points, they may as well call it: Everyone, let’s applaud the client that gives us the most money!
A truly successful recognition program has little to do with the number of points given out. In fact, some of our clients don’t even include point awards and yet, their employees are very much engaged in their program. No cash, no stuff. Just pure praise for deserving everyday heroes.
We prefer to define success as high participation levels (not number of logins but active participation), increases in enthusiasm, positivity, ideas, contribution, peer mentoring, and of course, employee retention.
Simply put: More bright eyes and bushy tails around the workplace.
Don’t get me wrong: marks of appreciation – whether points, special gifts, donations or events can be an important part of a complete program and are much appreciated by the recipients. They just shouldn’t be the focus. In fact, sometimes it’s better to not include points. I’ll give examples in a future post.
Sales Incentives: Be open and honest
September 19, 2010
QUICK TIP
Are your employees viewing incentives as bribes?
When running internal tactical incentives, it’s important to let participants know the business realities behind the campaign. Are you worried? Excited? Showing trust by being open and honest will be more effective in rallying the troops behind your objectives.
Suddenly, rewards are no longer viewed as bribes but as thanks for the extra efforts to help the organization get out of a jam, launch an important product line or win a significant account.
Showcase people who support the initiative along the way. Knowing that colleagues are positive and successful will help squelch naysayers.
In the end, success will speak for itself.
Every Employee Has a Story
July 6, 2010
Before you snap at, make fun of or – worse – simply discount someone, remember just how little you know about what is going on in their life. The only thing we are sure of is that every single person can use a hug, symbolic, virtual or otherwise.
This video, courtesy of Chick-fil-A, really brings it home for me. It talks of the human stories behind their customers but it can also be said of your employees, colleagues, suppliers, boss, everyone with whom you interact.
Thanks to Nate for sharing it at Itstartswith.us
Employee Awards: Superfluous?
July 3, 2010
In a recent blog post, Seth Godin writes that no one needs validation to achieve their goals.Validation is overrated.
In essence, just do the work.
Motivation comes from within, first and foremost, and I couldn’t agree more. If we had to wait for someone to let us know that we do good work before we can actually do more of it, the world would likely come to a standstill.
But. Athletes say that there’s no feeling like stepping on that podium or hoisting that coveted cup, tangible symbol of their accomplishments. Would a trophy or kudos when hitting milestones be considered validation of their worth or something else?
The road to success – in sports or in our careers – is long, arduous and often lonely. Many athletes say that they couldn’t have pushed through the dips without the support of coaches, teammates, friends and family.
There’s further motivation in not wanting to let our supporters down. When we win, they win. Payback.
Feeling a little love along the way helps get us through the hurdles and emerge victorious. It may not be required but it sure gives us a nice boost.
Employee Appreciation: Are you making it difficult?
July 2, 2010
Is your company, like so many others, making it difficult for employees to show appreciation to colleagues responsible for their contribution, big and small?
In Made to Stick: Why Companies Should Pave the Way to Praise, Dan & Chip Heath write about the far-reaching benefits of making it easy for people to express gratitude. Here’s an excerpt:
“(…) This is an economic issue as well as an emotional one: In a survey of 10,000 employees from the 1,000 largest companies, 40% of workers cited “lack of recognition” as a key reason for leaving a job.
This thank-you scarcity is, just as important, a tragedy for your customers. Because when a customer says thanks, they make you happy, but they make themselves even happier. In her book The How of Happiness, Sonja Lyubomirsky, a professor at the University of California, Riverside, describes a dozen scientifically proven strategies to make yourself happier. The first? Expressing gratitude.
In one study, researchers asked a group of people to make a list, once a week for 10 weeks, of five things they were thankful for. Other groups in the study wrote different kinds of weekly lists, such as “five major events” or “five hassles.” The “thankful” group felt more happiness, excitement, and joy than the other groups. They even reported better physical health — fewer headaches and coughs.
Another study found that making a “gratitude visit” — writing and delivering a letter to someone who was kind to you but whom you had never thanked, such as the friend who suggested it was time to ditch the trucker hat — caused people’s happiness to spike for a full month afterward.”
With solid technology, it’s quick and easy to express appreciation to colleagues near and far.
You can read the entire Fast Company article here. For a demo on our appreciation technology, click here.
Thanks for reading our blog. You made our day.
Employee Rewards: Wake Up to Appreciation
June 14, 2010
Telling people how you feel is not easy and for some, feeling appreciative is not something that comes naturally. When it comes to employee appreciation, it may be even harder for managers to express words of gratitude.
Here’s a simple exercise: tomorrow morning and for at least a week, right after your alarm goes off and before you extract yourself from underneath that wonderfully warm duvet, just pick a colleague or employee at random – say, Sally in Customer Service.
Now, reflect on what it is that makes Sally’s contribution valuable. Is she reliable, always on time and ready to pitch in? Does she bring ideas to improve the process or service? Does her sense of humour help relieve the tension when things get particularly hectic? Does she have great empathy for customers and colleagues? Does she have a knack for selling the products or services that are so important to the bottom line?
What would today be like if Sally decided to stay home – or worse, go work for your competitor?
What about Jim in Shipping? Paul in IT? Sarah in HR?
Sometimes all it takes is a little discipline to get to the point where feeling appreciative becomes second nature. And once you do, let them know how glad and lucky you are to be working with them. That may just be the best employee reward of all.
I’ll bet it will be easier to get up, too.
Join the employee recognition revolution!
June 5, 2010
The pyramid structure of most organizations often leads to it being the manager’s job to recognize employees. You know how it works. A colleague does a great job and you take it upon yourself to mention it to someone higher up in order for her to be recognized or rewarded.
But is that really the way workplace recognition should work? First off, is your manager going to have the time to do it, and if she does, will she deliver the kudos in a timlely manner, with as much passion as you have? There is a better way. Give employees the tools for instant peer-to-peer recognition.
Ok, I’ll wait a few minutes while you catch your breath. But seriously, as social media becomes more and more common, why can’t we harness some of the tools for motivation at work? Sure, nobody wants to hear about what Jim from accounting had for dinner last night, but I would argue that everyone would like to know how he went the extra mile to help out a colleague with an issue that he was struggling with.
At Rewards Nation, we take the stance that managers should not be the only people responsible for recognizing good work. Think about how empowered your employees will feel with the tools to make someone’s day instantly. We call that recognition an applause, and it’s a great way to put a smile on someone’s face.
So how about it? Are you ready to give your employees the power to inspire each other? Turn that pyramid upside down and launch a positive revolution today!
Transparency, in corporate North America, is the new black. The recession – discussed ad nauseam – has forced corporations to “open the books” so to speak to appease stakeholders, clients, and government agencies and to ensure that current practices would enable a sustainable future. As Stephen Linaweaver put it in The Unintended Consequences of Corporate Transparency:*
…the importance of transparency, and how it involves developing knowledge, honing communication, and identifying why you are opening up, for whom, about what, and through which mediums. All of that is well and good and necessary in the fishbowl that is the modern marketplace. These actions should help companies improve or protect their brand reputation and build equity with customers, particularly in the event of a mishap…
Many organizations have developed internal measures to ensure that employees have all the relevant information at their disposal regarding the company’s direction, its goals, and the challenges it will face getting there.
Shouldn’t there exist a level of transparency when it relates to employee success in helping the organization reach its goals? Trust me, employees love to read about their colleagues’ victories. Even minor victories, communicated to the employee population, consistently, will add up to great big successes. Give it a try. But be sure that what is being shared and celebrated internally is directly linked to what is being communicated to the universe.
*Read Stephen’s article here.
Selling Recognition to the C-Suite
May 1, 2010
A successful employee recognition program can do much more than reward your best employees. Used properly, a solid recognition program can effectively promote your corporate values and quickly redirect focus to support your current strategy.
In The Conference Board Review – Beyond the Handshake, Dr. Carol Pletcher, Ph.D., demonstrates how a recognition program can ask employees to buy into the company’s efforts, to change what they are doing, to meet aggressive goals, to accelerate a project. It is the effective way that Executives have long sought to talk directly and quickly to employees – and to measure the effectiveness of your communications .
A well-run recognition program can be the catalyst for effective change that is so needed in today’s challenging environment. It can also help you uncover problem areas. For example:
Reading through peer-to-peer submissions for “Saving the Customer” can help you uncover and fix operational issues that are the cause of customer dissatisfaction.
Mining award nominations – not just winning entries – can help assess your organization’s capabilities and give an excellent overview of where your employees are focusing their efforts, discover innovation, emerging leaders, etc.
Dr. Pletcher provides three ideas to get your started:
- Ask those who review your corporate award submissions to map the achievements against the top five strategic challenges. The submission inventory is your success portfolio – what does it tell you?
- Review and reposition the criteria for the recognition program that involve the largest number of people. You can easily modify criteria to elicit behaviors, accomplishments, and achievements to reflect today’s tough challenges.
- Experiment with recognition in new ways. Use recognition to challenge that behind-schedule project team as a way to get back on track. Recognition programs broadcast what you value – are you using it to accelerate performance?
Much more than a dispenser of happy feelings, a well-managed recognition program can be your most effective employee communication tool.
