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How Can we do a Better Job of Recognizing Employees? by Dr. Bob Nelson |
Dr. Bob Nelson is considered the world's top expert on employee recognition and rewards and is the author of the humongous best-seller, 1001 Ways to Reward Employees (recently released in a revised edition) and The 1001 Rewards & Recognition Fieldbook: The Complete Guide. He recently answered some questions about recognition and why it's such a problem today.
Q: What are the top reasons that managers don�t recognize their employees?
Bob Nelson: "I'm unsure how best to recognize my employees," is the number one reason. All that is needed here is a little bit of training. "I don't feel providing recognition is an important part of my job." 99 percent of employees report they expect to be recognized when they do good work today -- it's no longer an option. "I don't have the time to recognize my employees." Some of the best forms of recognition (personal or written praise, public recognition, positive voicemail or e-mail messages, etc.) require very little time to do. "I'm afraid I might leave somebody out." Just remember, if at any time someone deserving is left out, it is perfectly acceptable to simply apologize and make amends as appropriate. "Employees don't value the recognition I have given in the past." By involving employees in decisions that affect their own motivation, managers increase the employees' commitment and buy-in as well as the likelihood that what is done will be successful. "My organization does not help facilitate or support recognition efforts." I've seen recognition efforts flourish even in the absence of formal organizational support.
Q: Who is the worst at recognizing employees?
Bob Nelson: The research tells us the older someone is, the more likely they are not to believe recognizing employees is important to do. They grew up in a different era and thus often hold different values about work such as the belief that "people should be glad they have a job" or "we thank people every two weeks: it's called a paycheck." Yet 77 percent of today's employees say that recognition -- especially from their manager -- is very or extremely important to them.
Q: How can you get someone to do a better job recognizing employees?
Bob Nelson: To get managers to better recognize their employees, you have to reach them through their Head, Hands, and Heart: Head -- convince managers that recognition is important and help them to reframe their jobs to make it a priority. Hands --show them specific techniques other successful managers use in your organization or elsewhere. Be explicit about what recognition looks like in practice. Heart -- show them how using recognition will make the manager's job easier and capture the managers' motivation to want to recognize their employees.
Q: How can you get started recognizing employees?
Bob Nelson: Look for opportunities to recognize others when they do good work and then act on those opportunities. Start by saving a few moments at the end of the day to reflect on who did a good job that day and jotting those people a note to leave at their desk. Or carrying five coins in your pocket and transferring one each time you recognize someone, with the intent to transfer all the coins every day. Or starting a staff meeting by reading a positive letter from a satisfied customer then opening the floor up to any other praisings people might have for one another.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Bob Nelson, Ph.D., is president of Nelson Motivation Inc., the best-selling author of 1001 Ways to Reward Employees (now in its 52nd printing), 1001 Ways to Energize Employees, The 1001 Rewards & Recognition Fieldbook, and The Management Bible, among others, and teaches organizational behavior at the Rady School of Management at the University of California, San Diego. |
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