Employee Recognition Is Key to Effective Leadership
Recognition is the LIFEBLOOD of innovation, retention and productivity. It's what keeps employees and staff motivated, particularly during tough times.
Employees who are fed a steady diet of recognition focus better on company goals, spot new opportunities faster, have longer employment life spans, and have stronger and more productive relationships with their manager/leaders. Employee recognition is an absolute key to effective leadership.
To ignite and inspire your employees and staff to be their best, consider some of the following management practices and motivation tools designed around the concept of Employee Recognition:
Public recognition:
Everyone wants
to feel appreciated or valued. That's why personal, genuine recognition
is a powerful reward. Praising staff members in front of their peers
and superiors is the simplest, low-cost way of rewarding an employee.
Write a formal thank-you note and copy all high-level managers and
other team members, or for large-scale projects, arrange for an
individualized note of appreciation from the appropriate executive. By
including upper management, you show staff that you support their
particular efforts and success at the company.
Time-off rewards:
Commend team
members for completing a project under budget or on deadline with extra
vacation days or offering them a full or half-day off.
Flexible schedules:
Perks such as
flexible schedules or telecommuting may be provided to staff members
who have consistently produced exceptional results.
Special thanks:
Schedule a meeting
to praise an employee for his or her contribution and don't discuss
anything else during that time or place a hand-written note in their
in-box and be specific about the project or effort you want to
acknowledge. This shows that you pay attention to and appreciate that
person's hard work.
Special celebrations:
Host a lunch
or dinner to reward the team for a job well done, or schedule events
that involve family members, such as a weekend picnic.
Developing new skills:
Offer to put
team members on projects where they'll learn new skills, and provide
cross-training whenever possible. The more educational and challenging
opportunities you offer employees in the workplace, the more they will
value their own jobs and positions within the company.
Keep lines of communication open:
Share as much information as you can about company performance, its
position in the marketplace, and how employees can contribute to its
short- and long-term successes. Include staff in decisions so they feel
like contributors to major project developments.
Almost all of the above actions take only a little time and energy but they will earn you
a large return in productivity, loyalty and overall employee
satisfaction. Your ability to lead effectively correlates highly to the level of overall employee satisfaction.
Source: Special thanks to Tracey Turner at The Creative Group for contribution of content included in this article.
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Quotes to Inspire
"We're totally dependent upon the ideas and talent of our people, so we have to help them feel great about themselves."
Bob Jeffrey, North American President, J. Walter Thompson
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