The Five Most Important Tips For Effective Recognition

Employee recognition is not just a nice thing to do for people.
Employee recognition is a
communication tool that reinforces and rewards the most important outcomes people create
for your business. When you recognize people effectively, you reinforce, with your chosen
means of recognition, the actions and behaviors you most want to see people repeat. An
effective employee recognition system is simple, immediate, and powerfully reinforcing.
When you consider employee recognition processes, you need to develop recognition that is
equally powerful for both the organization and the employee. You must address five
important issues if you want the recognition you offer to be viewed as motivating and
rewarding by your employees and important for the success of your organization.
The Five Most Important Tips for Effective Recognition
You need to establish criteria for what performance or contribution constitutes rewardable
behavior or actions.
 All employees must be eligible for the recognition.
 The recognition must supply the employer and employee with specific information
about what behaviors or actions are being rewarded and recognized.
 Anyone who then performs at the level or standard stated in the criteria receives the
reward.
 The recognition should occur as close to the performance of the actions as possible,
so the recognition reinforces behavior the employer wants to encourage.
 You don't want to design a process in which managers "select" the people to receive
recognition. This type of process will be viewed forever as "favoritism" or talked about as
"it's your turn to get recognized this month." This is why processes that single out an
individual, such as "Employee of the Month," are rarely effective.
A Working Example of Successful Recognition
A client company established criteria for rewarding employees. Criteria included such
activities as contributing to company success serving a customer without being asked to
help by a supervisor. Each employee, who meets the stated criteria, receives a thank you
note, hand-written by the supervisor. The note spells out exactly why the employee is
receiving the recognition.
The note includes the opportunity for the employee to "draw" a gift from a box. Gifts range
from fast food restaurant gift certificates and candy to a gold dollar and substantial cash
rewards. The employee draws the reward, so no supervisory interference is perceived. A
duplicate of the thank you note goes into a periodic drawing for even more substantial
reward and recognition opportunities.
More Tips About Recognition and Performance Management
 If you attach recognition to "real" accomplishments and goal achievement as

negotiated in a performance development planning meeting, you need to make sure the
recognition meets the above stated requirements. Supervisors must also apply the criteria
consistently, so some organizational oversight may be necessary.
The challenge of individually negotiated goals is to make certain their accomplishment is

viewed as similarly difficult by the organization for the process to be a success.
 People also like recognition that is random and that provides an element of surprise.
If you thank a manufacturing group every time they make customer deliveries on time with
a lunch, gradually the lunch becomes a "given" or an entitlement and is no longer
rewarding.
In another organization, the CEO traditionally bought lunch for all employees every Friday.
Soon, he had employees coming to him asking to be reimbursed for lunch if they ate lunch
outside of the company on a Friday. His goal of team building turned into a "given" or an
entitlement and he was disappointed with the results.
 There is always room for employee reward and recognition activities that generally
build positive morale in the work environment. The Pall Corporation, in Ann Arbor, MI, has
had a "smile team" that meets to schedule random, fun employee recognition events. They
have decorated shop windows, with a prize to the best, for a holiday.
They sponsor ice cream socials, picnics, the "boss" cooks day, and so on, to create a
rewarding environment at work. Another company holds an annual costume wearing and
judging along with a lunch potluck every Halloween.
Rewards and recognition that help both the employer and the employee get what they need
from work are a win-win situation. Make this the year you plan a recognition process that will
"wow" your staff and "wow" you with its positive outcomes. Avoid the employee recognition
traps that:
 single out a few employees who are mysteriously selected for the recognition,
 sap the morale of the many who failed to understand the criteria enough to compete
and win, and
 sought votes or other personalized, subjective criteria to determine winners.
The designation, Employee of the Month, is an organization’s positive effort to recognize an
employee’s achievements and contributions. Employee of the Month is an organizational
recognition that companies have used - both successfully - and unsuccessfully - for years.
In some organizations, Employee of the Month recognition is a joke, a popularity or take-

turns contest for management-fawning employees. In others, Employee of the Month is a
cherished form of recognition.
My most important concern with Employee of the Month recognition is that employers will
believe their job of creating a motivating, rewarding work environment for employees is
complete with this award. Employee of the Month recognition is not a substitute for day-to-
day positive recognition, reasonable pay and benefits, company sponsored activities and
events, and anenvironment of appreciation.
With so many opportunities available to provide employee recognition, what employees want
from work, why offer an Employee of the Month award with its inherent problems?
Problems With Employee of the Month Recognition
The problems with designating an Employee of the Month rest with the usual
implementation. But, even if the implementation process is improved, the award is employee
unfriendly and fails to accomplish the goals of employee recognition. Ban Employee of the
Month awards because Employee of the Month, as a form of employee recognition, is not
recommended for these reasons.
 Publicized criteria for selection as Employee of the Month is most frequently non-
existent. The employee who is recognized as Employee of the Month rarely knows why he
or she was selected. Lacking criteria, other employees find the selection process an
unmotivating fog. In any selection process, stated criteria, most often measurable, is key to
employee understanding of the award.
 For an employee to become Employee of the Month, he or she should have

accomplished or exhibited the stated criteria so all employees are clear about why this
individual was selected. Most organizations fail to establish measurable and recognizable
criteria. The Employee of the Month selection is not transparent, so it fails in its goals for
employee motivation and retention.
In these organizations, jokes about brown nosing and “must be your turn” are
commonplace. They diminish the recognition power of the designation as Employee of the
Month.
 The second reason is even more powerful. If a number of employees accomplish or

exhibit the stated criteria, each of the employees deserves the award. Selecting one
employee turns the recognition into management’s opinion, once again. This defeats the
purpose of the criteria. Provide the award for each employee who accomplishes what it
takes to achieve Employee of the Month recognition. Anything else defeats your purpose.
Combat accusations about a lack of transparency and fairness; avoid claims of favoritism,
one of the top ten employee complaints about workplaces. Find more motivational forms of
recognition than Employee of the Month. Ban Employee of the Month recognition.

The Five Most Important Tips For Effective Recognition

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Employee recognition is not just a nice thing to do for people.

The Five Most Important Tips for Effective Recognition

 All employees must be eligible for the recognition.

A Working Example of Successful Recognition

More Tips About Recognition and Performance Management

 If you attach recognition to "real" accomplishments and goal achievement as

The challenge of individually negotiated goals is to make certain their accomplishment is

In some organizations, Employee of the Month recognition is a joke, a popularity or take-

Problems With Employee of the Month Recognition

 For an employee to become Employee of the Month, he or she should have

 The second reason is even more powerful. If a number of employees accomplish or

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