Thank Them – Praise Them – Recognize Them

 

Remember those hopefully long forgotten days when we had bosses who thought that your pay check was “all the thanks you need?”  We’d like to think that they are long gone but unfortunately, we often hear that attitude is still very much present in today’s managers. 

We are in the “Thanks” business, it’s what we do, and we believe it because we know it works.  Unfortunately, there always seem to be a manager who defends the philosophy of not thanking employees and recognizing them for their performance on an often basis.  As social beings most of us intuitively know that thanks, praise and recognition is good for us.  We can’t recall a time when an employee every told us that they hated it when someone thanked or praised them for their effort.  They may have been embarrassed about how it was done, but that’s a different issue.  The American Psychological Association in a paper in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology showed simply that a little gratitude does go a long way and motivates increased pro-social behavior. 

In our opinion not fostering a culture of thanks is unproductive, lacks judgment and we think it’s unwise.  It’s surely at least counterproductive for everyone involved.  Paychecks are great; it’s why they come to work, but it’s only half the contract.  It’s just paying what you owe, it’s not showing appreciation. 

Opposing managers often use these reasons why they withhold thanks:

• No one thanks me
• Thank people and they’ll only expect more
• If you thank one you have to thank them all
• I thanked an employee one time and he said ‘put it in my paycheck, who needs that kind of guff'
• Thank people and they’ll get false confidence
• I can’t thank people who need to improve

To these managerial types we say get over it.  It isn’t about you.  If your people expect more appreciation give it to them, they will deliver more to others and your workplace will warm up.  You don’t have to thank them all, but once you start you will naturally just thank more and more and it will become a habit.  And forget about the snarky ones, those are often malcontents who are looking around the corner at the next job move.

By simply choosing your words carefully it doesn’t mean you have to rise to the level of praising them, and then formally recognizing them.  But it is does start that cycle, that will result in a more engaged and productive workforce.

Thanks for taking the time to read this post.

On the Spot Employee Recognition

On the spot recognition for non-sales employees has been all the rage within HR over the last few years.  But it’s not a new recognition concept.  It has been used by the sales profession for decades! They used to call them spiffs, and they were often done with cash.  They were prevalent in the retail world for selling all kinds of hard goods.

Of all the elaborate schemes to reward and recognize superior employee performance, this might be the easiest and most effective way to do it. All you have to do is be aware of exceptional performance and on the spot say something and/or give the employee something in thanks of that performance.

As it can be difficult to use cash in this type of program, the award most often used in these on the spot programs are gift cards.   They are easy to source, you can have them at your fingertips with instant online awards available, and you don’t have to purchase the cards upfront or carry an expensive inventory of cards that just sit in a drawer waiting for you to use them. 

All employees thrive on recognition from any level of management.  Many companies even allow peers to do the recognizing.  The more you do it, the more you’re apt to see their performance continue to rise.  And when you reward them with something they can take home and immediately include the family in the recognition you have another winner.  Recognition when it comes from peers, department supervisors or executives that is taken home to the family is a powerful combination.

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

A Good Reason for Peer to Peer Employee Recognition

Current incentive research shows that over 80% of businesses use rewards to overcome business challenges.  According to Gallup 57% of baby boomers, 76% of gen Xer’s, and 81% of millennials say that receiving recognition better connects them to their organization’s products and services.

Employees today want to work at companies where they are recognized for their performance.  And it’s not just management to employee recognition that is important.  Incentive research also shows that 80% of millennials say that the act of giving someone else recognition makes them want to stay at a company longer when the company cares about and invests in their employees.

Take the time to look through your organization for award opportunities to increase engagement.  Get your employees to become more engaged in company initiatives, like taking a company survey, signing up for a service, or joining a committee.

Show appreciation and build a company culture where employees and customers feel valued. When you do you will have a workforce that is more likely to feel good about where and for whom they work.

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

Peer to Peer Employee Award Programs

Who best to reinforce the added value that employees show us every day than one of their own peers.

No manager has the ability to know everything that’s happening within their span of control at all times.  And while they would all love to recognize and reward employees for superior performance, many opportunities go unnoticed.

There was a time when companies wouldn’t have dreamed of approving a recognition budget that gave every employee in the company the authority to award that budget to their peers without management involvement.  But peer to peer programs are more prevalent today than ever before.  Why? Simply because they work.

Clients that implement them, are proud of them, they talk about them, they share their results.  Here’s a quote from a past client contact, Recognition Program Manager at Bonneville Power Administration who manages their peer to peer program for over 3000 employees: 

 “We’ve been implementing a peer to peer program for over 10 years and consider it very successful.  While other recognition programs have come and gone, the P2P program has stayed in place because it gets our people involved and keeps them engaged encouraging improved performance of all our associates.  I have no doubt this program has paid for itself over and over again.”

In peer to peer programs, the right employees are getting recognized because the ones doing the issuance know what’s going on.  They know who’s doing the job and who isn’t.  They’ll know who is deserving of recognition because they work with them either in the same department or in cross-functional departments. 

Your employees will take peer to peer recognition seriously and want it to be effective and produce results.  They know it’s a good benefit and are glad to have it.  They also know how powerful a thank you is to their fellow employees and they want to be the ones giving the thanks.

Your employees have the ability to make a peer to peer program successful.   Many managers unfortunately don’t, or won’t.  Your employees know what works, and you can rest assured that the money you give them either $25, $50 or $100 each per year will be used wisely. 

 "in the last three Trends in Employee Recognition survey reports by WorldatWork, peer-to-peer programs have ranked as the third most common type of recognition program among employers. Peer-to-peer recognition ranked behind recognition for “length of service” and for “above-and-beyond performance.” Of the employers surveyed, 42 percent used peer-to-peer recognition programs in 2013.”

It’s easy to implement a peer to peer program.  Management is in charge and will be guiding and overseeing the rules and analyzing the results.  The programs are transparent and vendors you use for awards can supply you with great reporting to assure that the funds are being handled properly.

Peer recognition can mean as much to your employees as praise from the boss—and maybe more.

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