Inexpensive Rewards and Recognition Made Simple
December 15, 2008 by Phil Gerbyshak
Filed under Business
Typical employee of the month awards just don’t work. Few get inspired by a certificate or a plaque that says “Employee of the Month” any more.
Giving someone more money not only isn’t a good long term motivator, but it may not even be possible, for any number of reasons.
How do you do rewards and recognition right without breaking the bank?
I’ve thought long and hard about the best rewards and recognition I’ve seen, and I’ve found they share one or more of the following qualities. None of these require a big investment of money on your part. They all require you to pay attention to the person you are rewarding or recognizing and that you make time to do this the right way.
Consider this an overview of an inexpensive rewards and recognition program.
Meaningful – What’s the meaning behind the award? Is it given out with thoughtfulness, care and compassion, or is it just an award you email out your staff to say “Carrie did a great job. Here’s her award” type award. Add some meaning to the award, and you’ve got the first ingredient in your rewards and recognition program.
Unique to the individual – You can make this unique to you, as the manager giving the award or unique to the person you are giving the award to. Most associates want something custom to them however, so ask your associates how they would like to be rewarded, and you’ve got another great way to recognize your team.
Specific reason – Instead of just saying “You did a great job last week. Thanks.” and moving on, focus on something specific that was done, or some specific outcome that happened because of someone’s performance, and your rewards and recognition will be much more meaningful and effective.
Timely – Don’t wait until the end of the year or even month to reward and recognize someone. Make it at least a weekly occurrence that you recognize folks. Even better, try to make every day an occasion to recognize your staff. If you get feedback from a customer that says what a great job someone did, share that right away, so the behavior or service performed is fresh in their mind.
Questions for you:
What are the best rewards and recognition you ever received?
What’s the best way you’ve ever rewarded and recognized your staff?
What made them so great?
Non-employee of the month photo credit to Rain Rannu
We have an “Employee of the Week” ceremony that includes a sizable trophy that gets handed around week to week.
The fun part of the ceremony is the tradition of taking a picture of the winner and posting it on our “Wall of Fame”. There have been some pretty funny pictures taken.
We also added a “Caddie of the Month” award for people outside our group that have helped us out the most in the last month. We go a number of little trophies made up for that award, so they get to keep them.
The best part is that the trophies were pretty much free as one of the guys on my team has a brother that is a machinist and he made us the trophies for free.
We’ve also had another member of the team giving us t-shirts he’s gotten for free that don’t fit him. So, starting last week, the winner got to hold the trophy for a week, the cheesy certificate, and a Developer.net t-shirt.
The funny part is that some of the other groups located near ours have gotten jealous!
Blasting out an email thanking your employees while CCing the department or the group is an easy way to highlight their successes and let them know they’re appreciated. By including others in the praise, it lets the employee know that your recognition is genuine and not just something you tell everyone. Simple and effective.
- Slacker
http://www.theslackermethod.com
Hi Phil:
I think the best and cheapest rewards have been the ones customized by peers and given out in a playful spirit. You know that someone took both time and effort to think about you and acknowledge you so that it wasn’t donuts for dieters or preferred parking but subway riders!
David
I think the key is that the recognition be *authentic.*
People are pretty good at smelling manipulation, and many efforts are rewards and recognition and “rewards programs” don’t pass the sniff test.
We have a “fandancer” award. The fandancer is a person who works behind the scenes to make us all look good. They are nominated by their peers, and get a traveling trophy, Medal of honor to hang in their office, $50. gas card or 1/2 day off, and a special parking place for a month. We all come together for 20 minutes to read the nominations out loud, and management picks the Fandancer of the month. So we all celebrate!
Beware the power of the “negative” award, too. I still remember a team briefing 5 years ago when the leader said he was “disappointed” in his team (not their work – them!). I still feel deflated and I wasn’t even a team member!
The most meaningful recognition that I ever received was a simple handshake and the words, “Good job, way to improvise!” My manager then went on to tell the rest of his peers in the company about my creative solution to a potentially disastrous problem and – over time – many of them contacted me to get advice and input on problems of their own.
Me too on the handshake. A handshake and a sincere thanks from someone who actually knows what happened and why it matters. Skip the “thanks for your contribution,” even with a check, from someone who has no idea what my contribution was. Real gratitude is really great.
Phil,
This is one of those topics that keeps on giving:-)
I really like the idea of anything that shows that the giver has taken time to genuinely know what the person is all about and offer something meaningful.
Having said that, the examples of acknowledging one’s contribution aloud and in front of others has always been my fave.
You’ve hit the nail on the head with this post, Phil. An important corollary to “specific reason” is making that reason specific to the company as well. We call this “values-based recognition” in which every employee recognition is tied to a company value demonstrated or strategic objective achieve (or contributed to). By doing so, you are making the company values come alive for the employee while also encouraging them — in the most positive manner — to repeat precisely those behaviors or actions you need for the company to succeed.
When structured properly in a strategic recognition program, company leaders can begin to track which groups or divisions are underperforming in terms of which values are more frequently recognized and then intervene where necessary with targeted training or other appropriate steps.