Employee Recognition: Too Trivial for Your C-Suite?
September 1, 2011
I don’t get it. After months of research, RFP reviews, demos, presentations and heated arguments, the Leadership Team finally approved the budget for the launch of a major employee recognition program.
And yet, in too many cases, not a single executive participates in the program, let alone the CEO, unless it’s to present a plaque or trophy at some formal recognition event.
Why is that? Is day-to-day, informal employee recognition too trivial, too bourgeois for the rarefied air of the C-Suite? Is recognition not worthy of management attention unless it’s attached to a grandiose award?
Did the Executive Team approve the initiative because they actually believe there is a strong correlation between culture, employee recognition and an employee’s emotional and intellectual commitment to the job? Or was it just because they say that “Employees are the Company’s Number 1 Asset” but don’t truly believe it?
The simple truth is that if it doesn’t matter to the boss, it doesn’t matter, and the recognition program will never have the impact on employee motivation that it could and should have. It will not ring true.
Conversely, what is important to the CEO will inevitably become important to the entire management team and the program could well become a movement that really moves the needle for your company. As the old adage says, where the head goes, the body follows.
Today, private social recognition software makes it instantaneous to publicly acknowledge employees who live the corporate values and reinforce what the company stands for day-to-day. If your leadership team doesn’t believe that taking the occasional few minutes out of their week to recognize those who inspire others is time well spent, they are sending a very clear message that employee recognition is just not a priority.
Worse, if Management doesn’t even know who your everyday heroes are, let alone what they do, your recognition program should be the least of your worries.
They approved the initiative and budget. Now the Leadership team needs to put their money where their mouth is. It starts with the CEO’s enthusiasm for recognizing your culture-builders, which will ensure the interest and active involvement of all levels of management.
Only then can you deem your employee recognition program successful.
Do you have any insights into the reasons why executive participation in informal recognition is so often near non-existent? Would love to hear from you.
When employees can’t rely on their own team for support
July 21, 2011
In a recent post, Chris Guillebeau – author of The Art of Non-Conformity and one of my favourite bloggers, talks about how people closest to you can sometimes leave you feeling dejected with their less-than-enthusiastic reaction to an idea or project that means the world to you.
But lo and behold, just as you’re questioning yourself and whether you should just give up, you’re totally surprised by people you barely paid attention to before who come out of left field to praise your idea. They explain how your innovation or hard work is making life so much better for them and tell you how much they appreciate your dedication and selflessness.
Wow! Not only do you feel appreciated, refreshed and energized, you now feel a responsibility towards your new fans to keep going, work harder and be worthy of their praise. You immediately re-engage, and bask on cloud nine for a while.
This scenario also happens at work where – for whatever reason – an employee may not always get the support that she needs from her manager or teammates. Fortunately for her and for the organization, fans will emerge from other teams or departments with messages of appreciation that raise her spirits and bolster her level of engagement.
That’s the beauty of an employee recognition program that is fully social and open to everyone in the organization. When some people won’t step up, others will step in to save the day.
