As a front-line manager, you have a critical responsibility to keep your staff motivated to do their best on the job. Your employees rely on you for instruction and direction and they want to know their efforts are appreciated. When your team is performing in the zone or particular individuals are excelling, it’s necessary to show them that you notice. In this article, I’ll show you some of my favorite ways to recognize employees.
“. . . people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” — Maya Angelou, American author and activist
What are the benefits of showing recognition?
Whether someone is a long-term employee or a new hire, feedback they receive from their manager is important. It reaffirms that they’re meeting their responsibilities, increasing their confidence. A staff member who feels appreciated will be more engaged at work and loyal towards the company and their supervisor. They’ll more readily step up when a shift needs to be covered or volunteer for additional duties.
When it comes to workplace teams, thanking them for working well as a unit increases their synergy and drive. Teams depend on solid collaboration between members. Your recognition that they’re functioning well, gives them the assurance they need to steadily meet goals. A team that feels appreciated will support its individual members and work effectively together.
What happens when you don’t show recognition?
Waiting until performance review time to recognize staff isn’t a smart idea. A successful supervisor takes every opportunity to assist employees to reach full potential. By not taking the time to appreciate achievements when they happen, you run the risk of employees becoming discouraged. A staff member in this position will start to feel like nothing they do matters. They’ll stop trying to excel and will make a minimal effort in their job. They may even sabotage the productivity of others!
Not recognizing what teams have accomplished can lead to even greater problems. Cohesion can start to break down with internal conflicts arising. Not only will there be a reluctance by members to work together, but it can devolve into blaming, finger pointing and opting out of the process. The team may become totally dysfunctional, leaving the manager with quite a mess on their hands.
What are the best ways to recognize employees?
First, get to know your employees well enough to judge what types of recognition they find inspiring. The more outgoing types are probably comfortable with any form of public praise, while those who shun the spotlight will want something a little more personal and lower key. Armed with this knowledge, you’ll find the perfect way to honor them. Here are some of the top tips for showing appreciation:
- Give kudos in a staff meeting or email.
- Offer an opportunity to organize a company picnic, lead a fundraising event or greet a visiting CEO.
- Spend one-on-one time ─ like taking them to lunch.
- Try a gift card in small denomination.
- Award them with a VIP parking spot for the month.
- Ask them to make a decision ─ such as the type of break room snacks.
- A handwritten heartfelt thank you note always works.
- Provide company swag ─ people love travel mugs, ball caps, T-shirts and pens.
- Buy a trophy — it can be something humorous that’s moves around, awarded for a set time.
- Let them be the face of the company with a website bio, photo or testimonial about their job.
What are the best ways to recognize the whole team?
An organization can do well with great employees, but to reach it’s potential, it needs those employees to work together. My favorite example is the NASA moon landing project. Yes, they had incredible scientists and builders, but so did other space programs. What set NASA apart was their organization-wide commitment to landing on the moon — everyone from the scientists to the janitors were committed to this unifying goal.
Team-driven incentives are intended to foster this type of collaborative environment. Here are some ways you get use recognition to build teamwork:
- Tell the CEO in a letter of the team’s achievements and have it copied to HR files.
- Feature a story in the company newsletter or local newspaper.
- Give a certificate of achievement, signed by the CEO, and photograph the team with it.
- Take the team to a coffee shop for their next meeting.
- Make a charitable donation in the team’s honour.
- Celebrate with a cake or office potluck.
- Present an award at the next company event.
- Brag to your customers with public recognition on the business website.
- Have a special bulletin board in break room devoted to the team’s achievements.
- Hold an open house and invite family, friends, the CEO and local dignitaries.
Final Thoughts
Managers often make the assumption that they recognize good work often, and that this isn’t a problem for them. I encourage any manager to try this exercise: On a pad of paper, make a note each time you offer personalized and team recognition, and how often you give corrective/negative feedback. If you are like most managers, you’ll probably find that you give far more negative feedback than positive feedback. Harvard research shows that you should aim for a 6:1 positive feedback ratio.
Recognition is crucial to developing a culture of mutual support where all employees feel engaged and are determined to excel. The tips in this article can help, but it’s meaningless if you don’t make a commitment to offering thoughtful and consistent recognition. So set your ‘recognition goals’, define your measurements, and don’t get discouraged!
