What Gets Rewarded Gets Done
Q: What should you highlight with your staff
tributes, awards and commendations?
A: What gets rewarded gets done, so recognize and reward a lot!
First, reward all the traditional categories: sales
achieved, goals accomplished, customer compliments received.
Then add some spice!
Celebrate new accounts, repeat orders, projects completed
under budget, money-saving ideas, increased efficiency
and, of course, improvements in customer service.
Acknowledge achievements of individuals: most productive
person, most consistent performance, most outrageous
extra effort!
Applaud improvements made by groups and teams: shortest
response time, fastest cycle-time, best collaboration.
Keep your staff motivated with unusual campaigns that
arouse interest and lead to productive action.
Highlight the most unusual service recovery or most
unique approach to a common problem. Give a ‘Most
Unexpected Situation’ award each month, and put
special attention on the learning that followed.
The end of the month is a natural time to give rewards
for targets and goals achieved. The end of the quarter
aligns with financial accomplishments. The end of the
year is an expected time for bonuses, increments and
promotions.
But the beginning of each week can also be a good time
to set recognition campaigns in motion. And nothing
beats the day before the weekend for spontaneous cash
awards and off-the-wall commendations.
In The One Minute Manager, Ken Blanchard and
Spencer Johnson encourage readers to ‘catch your
people doing something right’. That means recognizing
good actions whenever and wherever you see them. Give
merit to your deserving ‘Employee of the Moment’
– why wait for the end of the month or year?
Make your recognition widely known. Give praise in public at staff meetings, management sessions and executive forums. Award prizes at the company picnic or family day. Bestow special honors at the annual kick-off or the end-of-year dinner and dance. Use every opportunity to commend strong performance and recognize spectacular efforts.
Promote awards in the company newsletter. Post them on your website. Notify the local newspaper. Call the radio station for an interview with the winners. Send a photo and caption to your industry publication.
Create a ‘Wall of Fame’ in your plant, office or building. Take down some of the impersonal decorations and put up visual reminders of your most successful projects and praise-deserving teams.
Make your awards meaningful by giving something the winners will appreciate and remember. If your recipient is outgoing, throw a party, make a fuss, go for all the publicity you can muster.
If the winner is shy, provide your praise in a personal way: a special meeting, a thoughtful letter, a handwritten note on their desk.
When awarding a prize, make the honor reminiscent of the achievement. For the fastest production team, give running shoes. For the engineer who invents a better way, bronze an adjustable wrench and mount it on a plaque. For sales teams that surpass the target, host a darts tournament – bullseye!
Tools and education are practical awards. An extra conference or training session can motivate the technically minded professional. An expensive briefcase can be the symbol of success for a new salesperson just starting out.
People have many choices of where to work and how hard
to work. An encouraging culture motivates your people
to give their best. A sterile or discouraging culture
diminishes their enthusiasm daily. Where would you rather
focus your efforts?
One company says, ‘If you do a good job, that is your job. Don’t expect much recognition.’ (That’s a culture needing some change!)
Another company says, ‘If you do a good job, you will be rewarded, appreciated and praised. Get going!’ (Now that’s a great place to work.)
Key Learning Point
There are many ways to recognize and reward your staff
for achieving high targets of performance. The more praise
you give, the more effort and results you will receive.
Action Steps
Work with your team to make a list of all your current
targets, goals and objectives. Make the list long with
internal and external results desired.
Then ask for a list of all the ways your team would enjoy
being appreciated, rewarded and admired. Make the list
long with obvious ideas and some outside-the-box suggestions.
Now match the lists in ways that inspire and stimulate
everyone’s interest. Choose a place to start with
a goal to achieve and an interesting reward at the finish.
Give it a try. Then try another. And another.
First Article in Tips for Trainers >>
Ten Ways to Maximize the Impact of Training
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Ron Kaufman is an internationally acclaimed customer service training educator for quality service.
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