“I receive recognition for performance” is a common question on employee engagement surveys. In building a culture of trust, it is a top–five item. This is an area I have spent a large amount of time thinking about, writing about, and presenting on.
In college, I was introduced to the work of Marc Gold. During the late 1960s, he formulated a way to help people with significant disabilities learn complex tasks. He called it “Try Another Way.” It takes complex tasks and breaks them into sequential steps with positive recognition.
Throughout my career, Marc Gold’s method stayed with me. However, I discovered some pushback on recognition. I sent thank–you notes to employees’ homes. I heard, “Do not get personal with staff,” and, “Separate work and home.” I understand the concept; however, another key part of engagement is, “My leaders (organization) care about me as a person.”
Another myth I heard was, “People who are recognized get ‘the big head.’” (I’ve never found this to be true.) Still another was, “It’s important to balance positive and negative feedback.” False. It takes a ratio of three to five positives for every negative for a person to feel good about their leader and organization.
In my talks, I ask the group, “When you receive a text, voicemail, or email from your leader with a message to call them, what is your initial thought? Is it that your leader is calling to recognize good performance and/or to compliment you? Or is it one of anxiety?” You can guess the answer.
When I share that recognized behavior gets repeated, I get the question, “Are you saying we should recognize people for doing basic behaviors?” My answer is yes.
Here are some suggestions on how to increase recognition and how to not diminish the recognition you provide:
- Do not mess up a good thing. This happens when a leader sends out a positive message and then at the end reduces the effect. “Thanks for the great focus on service this past month. Customer satisfaction was the best ever. Please focus on keeping it high.” Or, “Thanks for cleaning up the work area. It looks great. Let us keep it that way.”You can always add those other thoughts later. Keep the initial statement positive. For example, your team had a great open house. You noticed a few opportunities for improvement. Wait for a natural amount of time and ask the group to meet to discuss what went well and anything that can be improved (versus pointing out things without giving the group the opportunity to do the same).
- Ask for help. As a leader, you cannot notice everything. Ask staff and customers about the people they feel can be recognized and why.
- Put recognition on your schedule. Put a reminder to write recognition notes. Otherwise, it may not happen.
Cultures are like wells. A healthy well is continually replenished. Recognition fills up the well and keeps what Stephen Covey calls the “emotional bank account” high. Full emotional bank accounts equal highly engaged employees. That serves everyone: the organization, the customers, and the employees themselves.
