Making culture count: Recognize like a rock star

One of our Top 10 ways to Make Your Culture Count is to recognize like a rock star. Make your team famous for the great work they are doing.

Recognition has an immediate effect on engagement and productivity but sadly it is one leadership practice that often gets overlooked or underutilized by leaders. Gallup has done extensive research over the years and their data to date still says only 1 in 3 workers in the U.S. strongly agree that they received recognition or praise for doing good work in the past 7 days.

Many employees feel their best efforts are routinely ignored. And what is worrisome about this is, employees who do not feel adequately recognized are twice as likely to say they will quit in the next year!

We as leaders have to make recognition a priority. It can be done through recognition programs and systems, but please don’t feel like you have to rely on a program to make it happen.

Here are 4 great ways to build recognition into your culture:

1. Be in the moment.  Always be on the lookout of people doing great work and immediately acknowledge their efforts. And don’t hold out waiting for the big win, it is also important to recognize the progress along the way.
2. Keep it in context.  Link the recognition you are giving to a business goal and/or core value to reinforce how the great work will lead to positive results. Instead of great job with the customer. Say something like I really appreciate how quickly you responded to our customers concern. That demonstrates our value of Customer First.
3. Make it personal and meaningful. A handwritten note goes a long way. In fact, one research study showed 76% of people keep handwritten notes of thanks long after they receive them. Recognition can also be made more personal by making an effort to know your people better, what they like to do, and who they like to spend time with. As a manager, I ask my associates to share what their idea of great recognition would be so I can be sure to hit the mark when the time comes.
4. Get everyone involved. Don’t limit recognition to managers recognizing their employees. Peer-to-peer recognition is powerful, too. You can accomplish this by opening recognition systems to all, adding the topic to team agendas, and modeling the practice.

Don’t wait to get started. Get true value from recognition by making it a habit every day.

Here's a free form you can download now and give to your team to learn more about them and help make your efforts to recognize great work more meaningful.