Recognition – Ways to Motivate Your Employees
Everyone knows that recognition is a powerful motivator. Though…knowing that recognition is important and doing it are different animals. Where do you stand on the recognition scale…from 1 to 10? If you think you are strong in this area, do some more research…as employees usually rate their managers lower.
I found this statement:
“With this in mind, remember that when we ask corporate leaders to estimate how many managers within their organizations actively recognize workers, they guess that 80 to 90 percent of the supervisors under their leadership provide little or no employee recognition. Indeed, that is confirmed by a Wichita State University poll that revealed just one in five workers believe a boss at work has every publicly recognized them. And fewer than half of employees have received even one personal thank-you from their boss. That makes recognition a rare experience in the workplace.” The Carrot Principle by Adrian Gostick and Chester Elton
Do you think you don’t have time to stop and personally thank your employees? It’s just good business sense to build the habit of recognizing your employees. Studies after studies have done the work for you…they have proven that consistent recognition increases productivity considerably….so that’s time well spent.
This post is not about company-wide recognition programs…rather how you, the manager, can make a difference with your employees in your daily interactions. Managing employees is about motivating employees and recognition is a powerful tool. Does it sound contrive to make a conscious effort to recognize a team member? It’s never contrived, yet I do acknowledge that when we are changing a habit or learning something new, we are awkward. Recognizing your employees is just a habit…and they say it takes 21 days to change a habit.
Here are some simple thoughts that you can do immediately to start recognizing your employees:
- You have to manage each person on your team individually. They work together as a team, but the power of recognition is at the employee level.
- Find out about them…what’s important to them and what they do for fun. This is important because if you provide a special thank you just for them, you will know what gives them pleasure.
- Start the recognition right at the beginning – the new hire. See my post Retaining Your Talent – The New Hire.
- Get out of the office and find opportunities to recognize individuals on work they are performing…right in the moment they are doing it. The only way you can build your “recognition habit” is by doing it.
- Keep a list of each employee and every time he/she takes initiate, performs quality work, learns something new or helps another teammate…write it down. When you are in your 1:1 with this person, let them know.
- The Carrot Principle has a list of 125 Recognition Ideas…find at least one idea to implement immediately.
- Read one hour a day information on managing employees. The internet, as well as management books, provide valuable information to help you grow your skills in managing employees.
Final Thoughts
Managing employees takes time and commitment on your part. Make a commitment to yourself to develop your knowledge and skills in recognizing your employees. Find one action you can do today…start doing it.
Next Topics
Hiring Top Performers
Pat
Other Topics:
Are Your Employees Having Fun Yet?
Manage By Listening
Help, I’m A New Manager
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21 Great Ways to Become an Outstanding Manager by Brian Tracy
With this valuable step-by-step program, you will learn
how to:
-Lead your team to maximum results – so you can stand
out above the rest
-Keep your team happy and motivated
-Maximize your natural leadership capabilities
-Build a team to take you to the top
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