What Does Saying “Thank You” Really Do for Others?

While we’ve posted on ‘Thank You” before, we don’t think we say it enough.  And while many organizations do a good job of thanking their people we still see a wide variance between wanting to do and the actual act. It’s a shame, but true.

Being thankful and expressing your gratitude is an important part of employee engagement.  Finding the proper way to thank others for their performance and assistance or just remind them how much their efforts mean to you can be rewarding for them year round. Take a moment to reflect on why saying ‘thank you’ is important.

Remember what saying saying ‘thank you’ really does:

- shows how much you value another person
- brings out the best in others
- draws people closer together
- shows that you are part of a team or family

Here are some quotes from famous people and how they viewed the importance of ‘Thank You’ as a part of their life:

·        “As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them.” -JFK

·        “You cannot do a kindness too soon because you never know how soon it will be too late.” -Ralph Waldo Emerson

·        “Never let the things you want make you forget the things you have.” -Anonymous

·        “The real gift of gratitude is that the more grateful you are, the more present you become.” -Robert Holden

·        “A moment of gratitude makes a difference in your attitude.” -Bruce Wilkinson

·        “When we focus on our gratitude, the tide of disappointment goes out and the tide of love rushes in.” -Kristin Armstrong

·        “Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all others.” -Cicero

·        “It is not joy that makes us grateful; it is gratitude that makes us joyful.”-David Steinall-Rast

·        “Gratitude can transform common days into thanksgiving, turn routine jobs into joy and change ordinary opportunities into blessings.” -William Arthur Ward

·        “Develop an attitude of gratitude and give thanks for everything that happens to you, knowing that every step forward is a step toward achieving something bigger and better than your current situation.” -Brian Tracy

·        “Gratitude is the open door to abundance.” -Anonymous

·        “Gratitude is the sign of noble souls.” -Aesop

·        “Showing gratitude is one of the simplest yet most powerful things humans can do for each other.” -Randy Pausch

·            “Kind words can be short and easy to speak, but their echoes are truly 

              endless.” -Mother Teresa

For more information on Ultimate Choice Inc.’s products or services or other white papers please contact us at Ultimatechoiceinfo@cox.net

Detrimental Myths About Top Performers

The main objective of HR is the maintenance of better human relations in the organization.  This is accomplished by the development, application and evaluation of policies, procedures and programs relating to human resources to optimize their contribution towards the organizations objectives.

Most HR professional spend a lot of time discussing employees — particularly those employees who appear to be struggling. They look for ways to support and encourage them, to boost their performance, and to incentivize them to reach greater heights. While it’s certainly important to try to improve the performance of marginal employees, all too often HR can forget about top performers — those who constantly and quietly do their best and perform well.

Certainly all employees are valuable to the smooth running of a business, but high achievers and top performers are truly essential in performance management terms. They are the ones who are eager to push your business forward, because they know that their success and the company’s success are linked.

In over 40 years of implementing incentive programs we have seen many examples of how HR, (often by mistake) do in fact overlook top performers.  Following are just some of the damaging myths about your best employees that you should be award of: 

Myth #1: Top performers don’t need as much recognition as other employees.

In fact an argument can be made that you need to spend proportionately as much or more time recognizing their performance.  Not all high achievers are self-motivated.  Nothing is more discouraging to them than being taken for granted and recognition is one of the fires that fuel their performance. Reverse the 80/20 rule and spend 80% of your time with your best people.

Myth #2:  Top performers can always be relied upon to be excited about their work.

Top performers are always looking for ways to advance and improve. If you don’t pay attention to this strength, they can lose it can his is a leadership trait that should be encouraged, not overlooked. If and lost it.  Don’t’ let them get bored.  Discuss advancement opportunities with them and see how you can best put them and their abilities to use, develop new skills and broaden their horizons.

Myth #3:  Top performers will be bold enough to ask for what they want.  Not true, as your best people, your competition will know who they are and they will be pursuing them. Not all best performers are assertive and extroverted. It’s altogether possible that you have a top performer on your hands who is working themselves to the bone and who is eager to advance, but they don’t feel entirely comfortable discussing how to do so.

Over the years we have been a part of dozens of top performer events and ceremonies and celebrations.  As we are a supplier and not considered as part of executive management, we are privy to many peer group conversations by top performers.  You would be amazed at how often the subject of leaving their jobs for “greener pastures” is overheard.

To assume the best will always be your best is a big mistake.  Many of the best and brightest in any company have come from a competitor who took them for granted.

For more information on Ultimate Choice Inc.’s products or services or other white papers please contact us at Ultimatechoiceinfo@cox.net

Harnessing the Power of Performance Management

According to a recent study by McKinsey Global Survey, performance management systems can be successful but only when executed properly.  Analysis indicates that the key to reaping business success is to establish a system that both employees and managers perceive as fair.  To ensure that fairness the managers need to master three critical practices:

1.     Linking individual employee goals as closely as possible to business goals and priorities

2.     Coaching effectively

3.     Effectively differentiate compensation across all levels of performance.

Linking performance goals to business priorities

The study shows that linking individual employees’ performance goals to business priorities, not only correlates with a higher level of perceived fairness but also helps companies achieve their strategic goals. Where employees’ goals are linked to business priorities, 46% of respondents report effective performance management, compared with 16% at companies that don’t follow this practice.

Manager coaching

Analysis indicates not only that effective coaching is the strongest driver of perceived fairness but also that there is a direct relationship between effective managers and the effectiveness of a company’s performance-management system. Unfortunately only 30% of all respondents reported they had effective management coaching. 

Differentiating compensation

Less than half of all respondents agree that compensation in their company is meaningfully different across levels of performance.  The results also suggest that effective performance management is more likely when organizations separate compensation conversations from formal evaluations.

Many performance improvement systems are under stress because employees harbor doubts that these core elements are equitable.  To improve your performance improvement efforts, these doubts need to be eliminated.

For more information on Ultimate Choice Inc.’s products or services or other white papers please contact us at Ultimatechoiceinfo@cox.net

How Do You Foster a Culture of Inclusion?

In the July 2017 issue of Incentive Magazine, Rob Danna, VP of Marketing at a prominent engagement solutions supplier, relayed an interesting allegory about inclusion:

“The grocery store near my house recently started selling so-called "misfit" fruits and vegetables. They're otherwise fresh and delicious, but don't meet the cosmetic standards we expect from food: the crooked carrot, the lumpy potato and the misshapen cucumber. Before this, stores just would have pitched this food.

What an incredible waste of potential, and what an important lesson for us.

While tossing out odd-looking tomatoes at the grocery store might unfortunately be the norm, smart HR professionals must take the opposite approach: celebrating and supporting all of their team members. Bringing in a mix of people from all walks of life simply creates a better environment, where people feel welcome and accepted.”

In a recent employee survey by Deloitte,  72% of respondents said they would resign or consider leaving an organization for one that has more of the inclusive aspects they desire, and in fact nearly a quarter of all respondents had already done so. 

Not many organizations will survive in the future when their culture is rooted in the past. 

To change your culture for the future you need a plan to get there, and according to Danna, the plan starts with building a solid culture foundation with these five steps:

1.     Define what you want your culture to feel like

2.     Outline your culture's existing strength

3.     Conduct focus groups and gather intelligence

4.     Define necessary behaviors

5.     Communicate

Easy?  Of course not, change never is.  But when you know your objections you can gain the power to overcome them.  Not having change can result in being just another organization that will no longer be on the future landscape of successful companies. 

 For more information on Ultimate Choice Inc.’s products or services or other white papers please contact us at Ultimatechoiceinfo@cox.net

Do Years of Service Programs Still Make a Difference?

Through research of mainly their own clients, O.C.Tanner, the largest company in the employee service awards field, concludes that service awards are a very valuable business tool and fulfill a critical role in culture and employee engagement of an organization.  This research might have been more useful had it compared years of service programs to how effective they are vs other types of employee recognition, but that's another subject. 

Years of Service are the most prevalent type of employee recognition program in corporate America.  They have become a “bronze shoe.”  It was the first type, has been around since our great-grandparents time, and is ubiquitous in the field of employee awards.  If you ask people it they believe in employee recognition programs they invariably answer in reference to a years of service program.  If you ask them if it is effective they will say that their employees seem to like it, but that’s about it.  What’s not to like? Every five years or so you get a plaque or can choose an award from a traditional catalog, the pricing of which is normally far above retail, but as you don’t pay for it or pay taxes on it you're happy with it.  It’s the “don’t look a gift horse in the mouth” rationale.  You're happy that is until you find out what your company paid for it.  Then it's only natural for some to compare it to the value of the item online, or suggest that maybe they were "worth more" than that a $250 TV for 10 years on the job.  Actually, not divulging the price of these items is a ploy that the award companies have used for years and a reason they tell you not to use gift cards. Does that make sense?  Do you really want to hide this price?  When the employee finds out your paid $400 for the item and they can find it online daily for $250, those can be very uncomfortable questions.

Frankly we’ve never been a fan of these traditional service award programs for several reasons.  First they don’t award based on merit, only time, they have little to choose from in the way of awards and the pricing if you took the time to compare is outrageous.

Taken by themselves, some would say that years of service programs are certainly better than no program at all. The average employee longevity is about 4.5 years.  This does fluctuate slightly year to year, but as almost 100% of years of service programs start issuing higher awards at 5 years, do these types of programs really make sense?  Giving an award to an employee for just being there might make sense to some, but wouldn’t giving an award to an employee for improved performance make more sense?

If you read the Tanner research they say that these programs help increase retention. There

OC Tanner HQ

evidence is that employees stay longer at companies that offer service award programs.  That’s quite a stretch in rationalization.  They say that respondents whose current job had a “career milestone program” projected staying 2.9 years longer than participants in companies without a milestone program.  The Bureau of Labor Statistics actual numbers on longevity would seem to refute the “projected” numbers as offered in the research. 

In our perspective, if all you had to spend on employees is $250 per year, you'd be much better off giving smaller awards on a more often basis than one large award once a year?  The consistent rewarding of performance will help to produce habits toward better performance ongoing.  Recognizing employee performance in the short term rather than rewarding longevity in the long term is a far better use of your budget dollars.  

For more information on Ultimate Choice Inc.’s products or services or other white papers please let us know.