Top 10 Boosters for Kicking Off Recognition in the New Year January 12, 2010
By Roy Saunderson
Start the year off right by practicing great recognition principles and become morale boosters by delivering meaningful recognition when overwhelmed employees are struggling to stay engaged and motivated. Use these recognition boosters:
1. Remind yourself to give recognition. In a weakened economy, the demands of work are intense. Put a reminder in your Outlook or usual calendar to take time out every day, or on selected days, to give people recognition.
2. Lead off staff meetings with recognition. Be on the lookout for innovative actions between employees and for great customer service moments that merit acknowledgement. Have employees share positive experiences at meetings, too.
3. Celebrate special dates throughout the year. Whether it is dressing up for some fun or holding a themed potluck lunch, take advantage of holidays on the year's calendar to connect employees with each other. Plan them in now.
4. Improve one recognition skill each month. Actively work on becoming a better, more appreciative listener or being more specific with your recognition talks. Rate how you do each day to gauge your improvement.
5. Make time for one-on-one meetings. Most employees want to know how they are performing. Schedule regular times for short, two-way dialog sessions to give and receive feedback.
6. Create billboards for successes. Bulletin boards are great communication tools. Post latest accomplishments, personal milestones, and other good news, plus customer thank you letters. And, of course, tweet!
7. Give small tokens of appreciation. The little things really do count, so search for low-cost or no-cost items that say the right thing. Always accompany tokens of thanks with notes expressing specific appreciation.
8. Honor employee work anniversaries. Mark down employee career or service milestones on the calendar and take time out to celebrate individual contributions. For significant milestones, plan wisely for the right action, such as giving a cake, taking the person out for drinks or a meal, or presenting a card, gift, or plaque.
9. Celebrate project completions. No one knows about the blood, sweat, and tears that go into a project more than the project members themselves. When a project is successfully completed, celebrate the group.
10. Catch people doing things right. Don’t wait for the final results and completed projects before recognizing people. Employees complain they hear nothing along the way. Give genuine pats on the back and positive verbal feedback every day.
Incentive columnist Roy Saunderson is author of Giving the Real Recognition Way and president of the Recognition Management Institute, www.realrecognition.com, which consults companies on improving employee motivation that leads to increased productivity and profits. He can be reached at roysaunderson@realrecognition.com.
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