Tweet

Pathways and Pitfalls to Giving Personal Recognition and Appreciation

Guest post by: Jim Clemmer

Article Overview: Whether or not your team or organization develops a healthy recognition and appreciation culture depends to a large extent on the personal example you set. If you manage-by-exception or Gap-Zap people, most others will follow your lead. Energy and morale will be low. In this uncaring environment, recognition programs will be contrived and out of place. They won't work for long.

Pathways and Pitfalls to Giving Personal Recognition and Appreciation

"Brains, like hearts, go where they are appreciated." - Robert McNamara, former U.S. secretary of defense and president of the World Bank • Whether or not your team or organization develops a healthy recognition and appreciation culture depends to a large extent on the personal example you set. If you manage-by-exception or Gap-Zap people, most others will follow your lead. Energy and morale will be low. In this uncaring environment, recognition programs will be contrived and out of place. They won't work for long.

The same is true if you use a lot of flattery and manipulation. Recognition programs may create a sharp spike of excitement and energy, but eventually the organization's culture will determine their ongoing effectiveness.

• Get feedback on your personal recognition skills and appreciation habits. Look for the connections between that feedback and the team or organization recognition programs you're using. Are they aligned?

• Here are some keys to giving sincere recognition and genuine appreciation:

o Recognize or show your appreciation as immediately as possible after the event or action you want to point out.

o Be specific. Avoid general platitudes and global statements.

o Mention how the action or behavior was personally helpful or fits within the bigger team or organization vision, values, and purpose.

o Keep it brief. Long, detailed compliments can be uncomfortable and sound over done.

o Ask if there's anything you can do to provide further support or service to that person or team.

o Ask yourself whether that exchange helped enlarge the team or individual's self-determination and self-motivation or did it increase their dependence on your approval?

• Don't just recognize top performers and superhuman efforts. Eighty percent of your people aren't shining stars, but their solid day-to-day performance keeps your team and organization alive. Even small increases in their energy and enthusiasm will have a dramatic cumulative effect. Develop the habit of looking for incremental performance or improvements that deserve to be recognized. Make this part of your personal improvement plan to strengthen this vital leadership habit.

• Never compare or contrast teams or individuals.

• Sincere recognition skills and genuine appreciation habits aren't turned on at work and turned off when you go home (flattery and manipulation can be). Develop the habit of pointing out the positive at home, with friends, neighbors, at social activities, and so on.

• Show appreciation for good tries, pilots, and mistakes that advance organization learning, especially if that experience is shared openly and widely for all to benefit from and build upon.

• My wife, Heather, has taught me the value of sending each other cards for every occasion (birthdays, anniversaries, Mothers/Father's day, Valentine's day, thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter, etc.). It's a powerful appreciation habit. She's also shown how important and valued a short personal note of thanks can be. Put those occasions in your calendar. Send notes to team members' homes. It's those little things that over time make a big difference.

• Lead the applause for anyone or team who makes a presentation to your team.

• Where it fits, recognize people in public or in front of others. Always deal with performance problems in private.

• Always say "thank you."

• As with communications, use every recognition channel you can - public and private, oral and written - to reinforce and support success, accomplishments, and progress.

Like improvement efforts, effective reward and recognition is an integrated process, not a bolt-on program. Since I can't make my team or organization into something different from me, it starts with me.

Related Articles
  Recognition and Appreciation Inspires and Energizes
  Four Ways to Waste Your Employee Recognition Budget
  Exception is a Poor Rule
  Zero Reward, Zero Recognition: Will That Be Your Dream Company?
  Loyalty Building Strategies for Managers
  Five Ways to Show Honest Appreciation
  The Power Of Thanks
  Appreciation As A Fundamental Awareness
  Cheer Leaders Inspire Others
  What Are The Common Mistakes You Need To Avoid While Designing An Employee Rewards And Recognition Program?
  Dont forget your internal communication and employee recognition
  How to Motivate Your Staff and Employees to Do Their Best
  How To Show Appreciation To Your Clients Without Breaking Your Budget
  Personal Recognition and Appreciation is an Inside Job
  Recognition Do's and Don'ts to Inspire and Energize
  Appreciate to Motivate (Five Keys to Successful Team Building)
  You Say You Want to Start a (Grassroots Employee Recognition) Revolution?
  Reward and Recognition Pathways and Pitfalls
  Comfort Zones
  Where You Look Is Where You Go! True or False?

Article Tags: leadership
Referred by: http://www.searchengineworkshops.com



Related Forum Posts
Re: Twitter vs Facebook - I know this is a naive question but i'm really not sure: What do you tweet ? Business? promote your business? Personal? Are there things you can't do? ALSO :Is there a rule book? Is there a success formula using twitter?
Re: Best Internet Marketing Strategies - Personal development and knowledge are important but as Mat says without action nothing will happen. So don't spend so long learning that you fail to follow through, rather learn as you go along but do something everyday towards achieving your goal. MichelleJ
Re: Quote of the Day - ?"If you want to stand out and win busine - Great post Evan, I agree 100% with GT, it's good to learn from others who have trodden the same path and found success but the time comes to branch off and discover ourselves and what we can bring to the business that others haven’t thought of. Giving extra value to a customer is a sure fire way to stand out and build your reputation as a unique service in an established market. regards, Mal.
Re: New Year - New Resolutions? - Business goal: To not procrastinate and to take action on my plans. Personal goal: To be more physically active as sitting on the computer all day isn't good for you.
Re: Finding AND Keeping Good People - Employee retention or as you mention “Keeping the Good People” is one of the biggest challenges for any growing business. It takes a huge effort from the entrepreneur’s end. I can come up with the following when it comes to KEEPing the good people- 1. Motivation of the employees 2. Recognition of the needs of the employees 3. Activities to make the employees feel valuable towards the organization 4. Make benefits more accessible 5. Offer profit sharing incentives 6. Create clear career paths at the company 7. Consider telecommuting, job sharing and other flexible working arrangements 8. Incentives are essential and they don't have to be huge 9. Have other managers praise an employee's work 10. Be sensitive to the balance between work and private life


Share this article with your friends. Fund someone's dream.

Leave a comment below or share on the left and you'll help support entrepreneurs in Africa through our partnership with Kiva. Over $50,000 raised and counting - Please keep sharing! Learn more.

Newsletter

Get advice & tips from famous business
owners, new articles by entrepreneur
experts, my latest website updates, &
special sneak peaks at what's to come!

Name:
Email:

Popular Articles

How to Find a Niche and Make Money Online

Convening a focus group for a niche product

Let's Skip the Offshore Horror Stories

Suggestions

Email us your ideas on how to make our
website more valuable! Thank you Sharon
from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for
your suggestions to make the newsletter
look like the website and profile younger
entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez.