Kenn Lloyd Ph.D - 151 quick ideas to recognize and reward employees

One of the most compelling, powerful, and effective ways to reward and recognize your employees is also the cheapest. All you have to do is open your mouth and give your employees the thanks and appreciation they deserve for a job well done. When employees hear you say, Great job! they feel better about themselves, their work, and the company itself, and this motivates them toward even higher levels of performance so theyll receive more of this feedback in the future.

The best time to provide this type of credit and recognition is as close to the employees excellent behavior as possible. If you can give this feedback in front of other employees, the impact is even greater. Those other employees will start to think about ways they can improve their performance so they can be on the receiving end of praise from you.

Assignment

If you only use the words Great job! after your employees perform well, the words can lose their impact. Make a list of at least 20 of the most energizing and enthusiastic words you can use, such as Terrific work! Outstanding performance! Amazing outcome! and Dazzling results!

Epilogue

Employees continue to hear your positive words long after you have spoken them.

Rewards and recognition do not exist in a vacuum, and their impact hinges on the workplace context and culture. If the environment is harsh or cold, all of your efforts to reward and recognize employees will fall short. For example, if a manager typically treats employees with indifference, any positive feedback or rewards he or she provides will be received with skepticism at best. However, the same feedback or rewards from a more supportive manager will be well received. As a result, if you want rewards and recognition to work, it is essential to set a tone that is positive, friendly, fair, and premised on respect and trust.

One easy way to help set this tone is to avoid the common managerial practice of looking through employees rather than talking to them. By saying hello to your employees around the office, perhaps asking how things are going, and then listening, your employees are going to feel appreciated, important, and respected, and these are great rewards.

Assignment

Look over the listing of employees in your department and related areas and put a + next to those you regularly greet, a 0 next to those you occasionally greet, and a next to those you rarely or never greet. Now set a timetable to make all of them a +.

Epilogue

Employees who rarely hear hello from their manager find it much easier to say good bye.

A powerful source of recognition for your employees is the level of interest that you focus on them and their work. If you are inaccessible or basically invisible, your employees can easily sense they are not particularly valuable to you or the company. When you manage by wandering around, one advantage is that you can use all of your senses to get a better idea of how a department is operating.

On a more subtle level, by spending time in your employees work areas, you are rewarding your employees. You are essentially telling them that although you have a great deal of important work that needs your attention, your team is even more important. Your visits are not based upon resolving a specific problem, and they are free of any agenda other than a desire to meet with the employees, see how things are going, ask a few questions, and answer even more.

You are not bearing gifts nor are you doling out cash. You are providing ongoing psychological rewards that build the employees sense of self-worth and competence.

Assignment

Write down the number of times per day that you visit your team without any specific agenda or scheduled meeting. If you are averaging less than one visit per day, commit right now to move that average to more than one visit per day.

Epilogue

Your presence is often the best present you can give your employees.

Regardless of the informal thanks, credit, and recognition you give to your employees, a great source of meaningful rewards for them comes from receiving formal feedback on their performance at least once a year.