9 Rules for Employee Recognition

Studies have shown that people work for much more than just money. In fact, money ranks fairly low on the lists of the “top five” or “top ten” reasons why most of us show up for work every weekday. At or near the top of every list is “recognition” — being recognized for a job well done.

Giving the people in your firm the recognition they deserve is part of good management, and it won’t hurt your team’s productivity either. It’s important that they feel you value their efforts, and it’s worth spending the time it takes to create and implement a system of recognition and rewards that will really work for your organization.

Because every business is different, with its own culture and requirements, it’s impossible to set out hard and fast rules for a “one size fits all” system of recognition that will work for your firm. What can be set out however are nine rules that will help you create a system that will achieve the goals you set for it.

1. The system you create must be designed by those who will benefit from it. It’s no use trying to use motivate your team with a recognition system that they don’t feel reflects their own feelings; it simply won’t work. Consult with them at every stage of the system’s development and be sure to incorporate their input in the final design.

2. The system must be compatible with the culture of your firm. Some firms are more aggressive, more outgoing or more demanding than others. Set the parameters of your system — particularly its targets, in such a way that will be seen as related to the work your team members are already performing.

3. Don’t think your system will fix existing problems. Just dangling a carrot in front of a team with low morale or poor work habits is not going to fix anything. Address these problems first; then and only then can you begin to reward the good performers.

4. Ensure that all levels of contribution are recognized. You might want to reward a successful manager for making it a good year, but that person also has a team of people that have made their own contributions to the manger’s success. Recognizing only the top level can create morale problems further down.

5. Base rewards on metrics. Your system must be (and be seen to be) totally objective to avoid creating any impressions of bias or favoritism. This means setting targets in terms of metrics and eliminating any chance for subjectivity to creep in.

6. Have levels of recognition. Sure, the “annual awards” night is something you can look forward to, but monthly or weekly recognition targets aren’t bad to have either. They can enable a buildup throughout the year and make sure that recognition is shared around a greater number of team members.

7. Let a team do the judging. Even though your system is based on metrics it’s a good idea to let members of your team form a panel for the official decision-making. It’s all part of letting your team known that this is their system and it’s not just there for your benefit.

8. Give your rewards two dimensions. First of course you can always have rewards with some financial value. There’s nothing wrong with that, but if the value is too high those who miss out can feel penalized and lose any motivation to remain in the competition. Keep the monetary value under control and include a good level of nonfinancial content (certificates, trophies, praise) in the rewards on offer.

9. Be sure your system rewards exceptional performance and doesn’t just become part of the furniture. If people see ordinary performance being worthy of recognition they’ll never see the value of achieving higher levels of success.

Don’t forget that these rewards aren’t part of any team member’s salary package or other planned remuneration. They’re a reward for performance and shouldn’t be seen as a replacement for a well-deserved salary increase or contract bonus.

Copyright 2004, RAN ONE Inc. All rights reserved. Reprinted with permission from www.ranone.com.