High performers have enough coffee mugs
Take a gander around your workspace. What’s the bling factor? If you’ve done anything even remotely beyond the call of duty, you probably received some kind of award for it. A ribbon here. A fancy pen there. Some kind of engraved acrylic doo-dad. Coffee-mugs-turned-pencil-cups everywhere. Does any of that stuff make you want to do more above-the-call-of-duty work? Or does it have all the meaning of “flair” on a TGIF’s waiter’s uniform? Maybe I’m wrong, but I’m thinking the latter.
If you feel that way, it’s a fair bet that your people probably feel that way, too. “Here’s your thing, thanks a bunch,” will take you only so far when what you really want to do is sincerely convey the message to your employees: “I have noticed you and how great you are. And I deeply appreciate all that you’re doing for us.”
Still, who doesn’t like a present? The trick is to make that gift personally meaningful. “Recognition” is just a fancy word for “You’ve been noticed, and you’re more than just a face in the crowd.” And the reward should reflect that.
Here are some ideas:
- Money is always appropriate for small events. Catch someone doing something right? Spot them a $20 or $50 (depending on your budget). It could be a nice night out with the spouse. Or it could mean that their lights stay on for another month. You don’t need to know. But your employee will find a really good use for it. Guaranteed.
- Buy them a ticket to their passion. For something more significant, buy them a gift that relates specifically to something you know about them personally. Even if it’s a gift certificate, choose a store that demonstrates that you know who they are beyond their job description and performance review.
- Buy them a ticket to their future. High performers are also ambitious and voracious learners. They want to know more, do more, be more. Help them out with a tuition-paid course of their choice, an assignment to a special mentor, or an assignment to a special developmental project.
- Give them the chance to impact their colleagues’ future. If they’re especially successful in some aspect of their work, let them share their insights and techniques with the rest of their colleagues. Maybe it’s just me and my own ego, but not much make me feel more puffed out and proud than the question, “Wow, how’d you do that?” There’s a lot of buried gold in the heads and hearts of your high performers. When you mine it, you not only get the value of their differentiating approach to their work, but you also make them feel great, appreciated and valuable. And noticed. Sure, you might want to give them a small doo-dad to commemorate the event, but the lasting value is the fact that they know you noticed. And the rest of your team benefits to boot! Can’t beat that.
True. Your company’s workspaces might become devoid of flair. But is that really such a bad thing? For high performers, the real flair is in the satisfaction of doing their jobs well with people they respect. The fact that they know you’ve noticed — and respect them enough to show them in a meaningful way — will be that added initiative to keep them doing that great job.
Image credit, sjlocke, via iStock
Posted by ajut lumiere on April 13th, 2010 at 4:11 am
classes to upgrade skills are tops showing that you are investing in their future and abilities the reward is 10 fold on both ends. resulting in happy motivated employees willing to do more than is asked without having to be compelled by other means.
Posted by Derek Irvine, Globof on April 13th, 2010 at 11:10 am
Great writing style. Your intro paragraphs made me think about the acrylic doo-dad gathering dust in a box somewhere from a past life. There's a reason those types of awards are called "tombstones."
I do have to disagree with your suggestions however. Cash is never the answer. Cash compensates, it does not motivate. How are you giving that cash over? In a paycheck? It's quickly lost and forgotten about and likely used to pay bills. Or are you handing over the literal cash and then expensing it? How is that accounted for in the company? What kind of risk are you opening up your company to if that is not properly taxed?
Give them tickets? Give them gift certifcates? To what? How do you know what they really want most in that moment in their life? Again, how are you accounting for this in the company? Why not let them choose their own reward from millions of options? Gift certificates really are the best vehicle for this kind of recognition, but don't offer a pre-selected one. Let them choose for themselves, then let them enjoy the experience of shopping, dining, adventure or what have you.
And eliminate the risk with the right kind of structure and management behind a truly strategic recognition program.
Posted by Martha Finney on April 13th, 2010 at 11:19 am
Derek: The point here is that if you are the one responsible for your direct reports' performance and the one who decides when and what they should be rewarded with, you should know them well enough to know what's important to them in other aspects of their lives. Maybe not everything that's important to them but at least something that tells them, "You're not just a face in the crowd." Getting a gift certificate to a general catalog of stuff is, in my opinion, just a notch or two higher than the proverbial acrylic doo-dad.
People want to be recognized for who they are and what they bring to the table. Not gifted with meaningless stuff that will eventually be thrown away by their heirs, if not sooner.
Re the word ticket. That was a metaphor. Unless you know for a fact that a ticket to some performance is exactly what your employee would like. In that case, be a mensch and give the person two tix.
Posted by SmartBlog on Workforce » This week’s most clicked on April 16th, 2010 at 2:40 pm
[...] 4 ways to provide meaningful recognition [...]
Posted by Patty on May 3rd, 2010 at 5:42 am
the problem with recognition like gift cards, classes and money is that they are taxable by the IRS, at ANY amount. You can give these types of gifts, it just means the gift has to be taxed on an associate's paycheck. A word of caution for anyone who is giving this kind of gift.