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Give
Recognition
By
Patrick J. McKenna and David H. Maister
What
is missing from many people's work lives is any kind of personal
appreciation or recognition. This is as true of senior people as
it is of juniors. Managers often fall into the trap of looking for
problems to be fixed rather than seeing successes that can be multiplied.
This results in everyone being risk averse and cautious. It does
little to encourage the vital task of regularly finding new ways
to do the job better.
Think
back to the last time someone took the time to tell you how much
he or she admired your expertise, respected your decisions, or had
confidence in the way you handled something. How did that recognition
affect you on an emotional level? Your answer may be all the argument
you need to appreciate the importance of giving recognition.
So,
what stops us from expressing recognition? Some people think that
it's actually unprofessional or too "touchy-feely" to
express appreciation. There is often a fear of intimacy, a fear
of getting too close. Expressing recognition makes a lot of people
feel embarrassed, both in the giving and in the receiving. What
should we do? Here are a few suggestions:
1.
Decide what actions are worth of recognition.
2. Do it only when appropriate.
3. Determine the appropriate method and form for extending your
recognition.
4. Deal with each individual in a manner that fits his or her personal
style.
5. Institute an "Awards Program" within your group.
6. Prepare an "Accomplishments" report for your group.
Are
there any non-financial incentives available for recognizing and
celebrating performance and achievement, both professionally and
personally? Consider the following list:
1.
Approval
2. Gratitude
3. Autonomy
4. Participation / involvement
5. Personal interest / support
6. Public recognition
7. Visibility (inside and outside the office)
8. Contacts
9. Access to information ("being an insider")
10. Access to additional resources
11. Rapid response (access to the manager)
12. Task support
13. Titles (official and unofficial)
14. Special roles or assignments
15. Challenge
16. Meaning
Each
of these items represents a nonfinancial currency that the group
leader can influence, and use to provide rewards. There is, of course,
danger here, in that the group leader must not be seen to be acting
politically or playing favorites. However, the list reveals that
the leader has more than a few arrows in his or her quiver to reward
and acknowledge contributions. Great group leaders have learned
how to use all of these currencies, adapting each to the personality
of the individual.
Here
are some simple recognition techniques:
- Visit
individuals in their office to thank them for some specific contribution
or post a thank-you note on a colleague's office door.
- Send
an e-mail message to everyone in the group advising of someone's
personal contribution to your own accomplishment.
- Organize
a number of your group to take a specific staff member out for
lunch on their birthday or arrange to send a card home signed
by everyone on the team.
- Present
a stuffed "Energizer bunny" to that group member who
keeps going and going, or a stuffed roadrunner to those who manage
to complete a particular rush client project in record time.
- Arrange
with firm management to rename one of your firm's meeting rooms
(on a rotating basis) each year after the person who has made
the most notable contribution to the team during the previous
twelve months.
- Present
each new person joining the group with a specially printed T-shirt
displaying his or her name above the name of the group and the
firm.
- Initiate
your own internal one-page monthly newsletter. Arrange a "Bravo"
column to salute personal and professional activities or a "Good
Tries" column to recognize and offer encouragement to those
whose innovations did not achieve their full potential.
- Allow
new people and staff to rent, from a local art gallery, a work
of art of their choice for their office or work area.
- Encourage
and support people in developing their own recognition programs.
- Create
a "Hall Of Fame" wall with photos of outstanding achievements,
both professional and personal.
- Create
an annual report, yearbook, or photo album containing memorabilia
and photographs of every group member along with their best achievements
of the year.
- Acquire
some luncheon certificates from a nearby restaurant to hand out
on the spot to support staff observed to be putting in effort
above and beyond expectations.
- Acquire
a tabletop-sized Japanese daruma doll, color in one eye signifying
a goal, and after achieving that goal, color in the other eye
and have everyone sign the doll and put it on display.
- Give
an employee a day off with pay if he or she recommends a person
who is hired and makes it past a ninety-day probation period.
- Buy
a local billboard to celebrate a person's professional, political,
or civic honor.
- Host
a surprise picnic for the entire practice team in the parking
lot or parking garage.
- Designate
days when anyone who makes a negative comment forks over a dollar
and use the proceeds to fund a social event or external charity.
- Send
flowers to the spouse of any person or staff member who has to
be away from home for an extended period on client business, to
show appreciation for the sacrifice.
Awards
could be given out to a number of group members in different categories,
and members of your group could be encouraged to submit the names
of individuals they feel most worthy of receiving recognition:
Service
Quality Awards: Nominations should be made for those
individuals who consistently complete client work in a timely fashion
with very high quality and who make the effort to produce excellence.
Practice Development Awards:
Nominate individuals that have put forward the most consistent effort
in working together as a team to help build the practice.
Streamliner Awards: Nominate
individuals who came up with the best suggestions for improving
the efficiency and effectiveness of the group.
Administrative Support Awards:
Nominate the individual who provides the most helpful support to
you.
Golden Rule Awards: This
award recognizes that person who always treats you kindly and fairly,
who recognizes his or her responsibility to be part of the team,
and knows that by helping you succeed, the whole group benefits.
Best Suggestion to Clients Awards:
Nominate someone who saved your client money, increased your profitability,
found errors which could have resulted in embarrassment or penalties,
reduced paperwork, or increased a client employee's productivity.
Mentors of the Year Award: Nominate
someone who caused you to perform at your best, helped you develop
to your true potential, or provided a supportive environment that
allows you to take risks and accept challenges.
Excerpted
with permission from Patrick J. McKenna and David H. Maister, First
Among Equals, The Free Press, 2002. For more information, visit
www.firstamongequals.com
©
Copyright 2002
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