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.

Individual or Team-Base Incentives? When to Use One, the Other or Both.

 

Twenty-five years ago, less than 20% of firms reported their workforce was engaged in one team or more at any given time.  Studies today show that teamwork and collaboration consume about 80% of the typical knowledge worker’s day. 

While most employees agree that team-based work is essential, only one-quarter prefer to work in teams versus alone.  Before the pandemic, 68% say the teams they work on were dysfunctional.   As business becomes increasingly global and cross-functional, silos are breaking down, connectivity is increasing, and teamwork is seen as a key to organizational success. 

When planning reward initiatives, designs to optimize team incentives is not immediately obvious or intuitive. The type of work that teams perform ranges widely and can change over time. For incentives to do good rather than harm, they should encourage the types of actions and behaviors appropriate to the work of the team in question – the right incentives at the right time. 

Things to consider when planning your team incentives might include:

 Whether the work of the team is highly-interdependent (tight team) versus loosely dependent (loose team).

 Organizations emphasize individual achievement when it comes to compensation, promotion, rewards and recognition because they’re comparatively easier to measure and administer.  Yet individual rewards might contribute very little to team dynamics and performance, or even detract from them.

 For a variety of reasons, team-based incentives and rewards may prove more difficult to administer (particularly in larger teams) because individuals come to their teams with different goals and contribute varying levels of effort and/or value.  Team rewards may even introduce issues where individuals let their teammates do most of the work while sharing equally in the reward. Adversely, individuals may have to give up personal recognition for the benefit of team performance.

There is a growing body of research that offers compelling evidence that where small teams engage in highly-interdependent work, team-based rewards drive better performance and outcomes than individual rewards.  This is possibly driven by intergroup competition.

 In small, highly-interdependent teams, hybrid rewards – which recognize team achievements and the behaviors and productivity of individual team members – can drive the best results of all. 

 As small teams become more interdependent, better communications and greater cohesion will result in better performance.

 When a team does not perform highly-interdependent work, greater communications and cohesion might actually harm performance; largely because it is time-consuming and unnecessary. Here, individual incentives are likely more effective.

 So do the research. Determine if you have tight teams (highly interdependent like a volleyball team or restaurant crew) or a loose team; whether you have small teams (10 or less) or large teams (more than 10 members.)

Small and tight teams are more effective at driving performance than large and loose teams.  For large and loose teams consider using Hybrid awards that reward the teams’ accomplishments as a whole and rewards the behavior and performance of the individuals as well.

  

What are the Most Important Drivers of Employee Performance?

 

10-24-21 What are the Most Important Drivers of Employee Performance?

 Recent research by the Cicero Group, a premier management consulting firm focused on implementing data-driven strategies for a broad mix of organizations across the globe, indicates that employee recognition is a driver of employee performance.

 We have seen similar research on the same subject for years, and frankly while the %’s of what the top drivers are always a little different…, the categories are much the same. 

Employee recognition is virtually always in the top third of drivers.  Why?  Because it works.  All companies seem to understand this, but their approach to how to implement these efforts differ widely from place to place.  

The Cicero research demonstrated that  one of the most effective ways to increase engagement is simply to recognize employees for their performance, in both formal and informal ways.

How to Design Effective Employee Recognition Programs

 

An employee recognition program can improve employee well-being, satisfaction, employee retention, and health. The impact of recognition can loom large over a company. 

According to 83% of HR leaders, employee recognition programs benefit organizational values, and 85% say they positively affect organizational culture. 

The challenge for companies is how to design an effective recognition program.  We deal with companies every day that tell us they are looking for ways to improve their current programs.  Many are stuck in an age-old “years of service” program that does little if anything to motivate change in the complex business climate of today. 

 When you are considering revamping your recognition program here are 5 keys to making it meaningful:

1.    Be relevant. Tie the award to specific achievement of certain objectives, either by                         individual or team.

2.     Timing is everything.  Recognition that arrives months later isn’t nearly as meaningful as recognition that is received immediately. Put systems in place to recognize employees and take advantage of the opportunity when it is presented.

3.     Recognition comes in many forms. As far as giving and receiving appreciation goes, everyone has a preference or style.  Many feel that it is best to ask the employees what they want, but a word of caution.  In over 90% of the time, the answer to this question will invariably be cash.  That may be what they say they want, but it’s not necessarily what will motivate them to incremental performance. 

4.     You don’t need to break the budget bank.  Thanking your employees for their daily efforts can motivate them just as much (and sometimes even more) as recognizing achievements.  The appreciation should also come from both managers and peers; some employees find recognition from peers to be even more motivating.

5.     Bringing it all together.  Employees appreciate the recognition that lets them know how their efforts contribute to the success of the company and their team is valued.  Employees gain a sense of security in their value to the company, motivating them to continue their great work. 

If employee recognition is important to your organization, you need to spend some time designing one that will produce results.  Unfortunately, most companies don’t take advantage of the professionals in the award industry who are available usually without charge (if you are buying their awards) to assist you in this regard. 

In difficult labor markets, hiring and retaining good employees is a constant issue.  You spend a tremendous amount of revenue on this, doesn’t it just make sense to spend a small fraction of that money on a recognition program that you measure to produce results?  With a well designed employee recognition program you can turn regular hires into game changers.