Someone in IT finished a project ON TIME???

First, Rebecca stole my comment... I wish Herman worked in our IT department.

Second, an employer I used to work for gave these stupid little buttons for "going beyond the expected." Everyone who actually deserved one basically made fun of them because of those who received them.

One particular technician thought very highly of the award. When he was working on a project he would give the project owner some random date about a month longer than what was needed to perform the task. Then, not surprisingly, he would finish way ahead of schedule, typically telling people he "made arrangements" to finish the job. He would then ask the people,"Since I finished ahead of schedule, would you nominate me for a "Go Beyond the Expected" award?

Coworkers knew the scam he was pulling. Unfortunately, management at this large medical device company that shall remain nameless, but has been discussed in the New York Times recently, were too stupid to see through his ploy and thought his picture should be in Webster's Dictionary next to "dedicated."

Hmmm... maybe this stupidity came back to haunt them, too?!?!

I just like it that Steve is finally feeling well enough to curse again. Halle-freakin-lulah.

At one of my former employers actually gave out gold stars for a while. When this was met with employee apathy for the five year old child tactic it was, it eventually died a slow death.

Does anybody know of a recognition program that DOES work? Employees seem so cynical about management these days that ANY companywide public recognition seems like it would generate more jeers than applause.

A big problem for employee communicators looking for heroes to profile in the publication but not wanting their heroes to become laughing stocks ....

How about instead of having a "recognition program," the boss just says thank-you or otherwise sincerely acknowledges people when they do a good job? How about instead of making it a point to tell "hero stories" in the publication or anywhere else, communicators just seek out good stories about real people doing things right? Or doing things not so well, and what they learned in the process? The problem with recognition programs is they always look forced -- which they usually are.

RJH---Amen, can I get an amen from the choir!?!?!

My current boss and I have a pretty good relationship now, but it took a good three years for me to get used to the fact that "thank you" and "good job" were almost never in her vocabulary.

I wonder if some bosses are worried that saying "thank-you or otherwise sincerely acknowledg[ing] people when they do a good job" would amount to childish head-patting and hand-holding.

On the contrary, I would be a super-motivated employee---heck, paint a big red S on my chest---if I knew that I might actually expect to hear every now & then (only when it's earned, of course)...."You did a great job on that project---I really liked your lead and how you used the quotes."

This one-on-one, ground-level, sincere, simple, EASY recognition seems mostly out of the loop of communications vehicles and programs. But if bosses were more successful at it, there would be less need for these well-intended but largely misguided "kudos" type of programs that most employees scoff at.

And that we all still have to write about---please pass the air-sickness bag. =)

When leaders get behind recognition, the program gains credibility. What self-respecting CEO would present a "virtual bouquet?"

A respected leader can transfer respect to a recognition program by taking it seriously and personally presenting the awards. I've seen it done with "Chairman of the Board awards" where the CEO told a crowded room, every quarter, about the bottom-line business contributions made by each winner. Each winner received a quality plaque and $50, plus the respect of everyone attending because we heard about their serious business accomplishments, and because the boss took it seriously.

Sincerely telling people they did something well might decrease their terror of losing their jobs, which is the fuel that's powering Corporate America.

I wholeheartedly agree with the notion of direct supervisors giving more recognition. That can work, as long as the supervisor knows what will motivate the employee. Not everyone wants to be recognized in the same way - some people are so shy that a private thank you is the best thing, and for others, making an annoucement at a large department meeting is the best. Others still will feel the best with a monetary gift. We have a pool of money that officers can use to give discretionary bonuses, and that type of reward is a great idea, in my opinion. This leaves the decision up to an individual department, where most good recognition comes from. Either way, managers should be encouraged to ask what motivates their charges.

At the last company I worked for (which was a very small company), each person had a set number of dollars that they could award to other employees for doing a great job or going beyond the call of duty. We were careful with how we gave it out because there was a cap on it. That was a great way to see employee to employee recognition in action.

Wow, some really good and interesting comments on recognition!

"Sincerely telling people they did something well might decrease their terror of losing their jobs, which is the fuel that's powering Corporate America."
* Very scary and ugly observation, Meredith, but I fear that you may be right! =(

"I wholeheartedly agree with the notion of direct supervisors giving more recognition. That can work, as long as the supervisor knows what will motivate the employee. Not everyone wants to be recognized in the same way"
* Another EXCELLENT comment, Lisa! Having magagement step up to this is definitely a two-step process. First you've got to get them to give a flying F*** about employee recognition & its potential for motivation. THEN, if they can be persuaded to care about THAT (it's not just unquantifiable feel-good----done right, it makes good business sense), they've got to be willing to invest the time it takes to know their individual direct reports and what type of recognition motivates them best.

I would love to see this happen and would love even more to hear of some real-live success stories on this front. My guess on the reason that some managers and companies don't buy into this is that it takes "too much time we don't have" and is not clearly and easily enough tied to the bottom line. Still not an excuse in my book though.

Cynical Laurel having a rotten day----better dumping on managers than those at home though. =)

In our organization we have a Bouquets section on the employee Web site. It is driven by notes sent by clients to the employees' managers. As far as I can tell after reviewing and checking them, they are spontaneous and sincere. The senders almost always are very clear about why they feel the employee deserves praise. As well as making the employee feel good, it gives the manager a way to signal "I noticed that you made a client happy" and it also lets us show other employees a wide range of ways to make clients happy.

There are also far too many managers who have never learned that a plain, ordinary, one-to-one "nice job" really, really works (if given when deserved).

We revamped our employee recognition program in 2004 to make it more meaningful. Our President has a team (the members aren't identified so they can't be lobbied) that reviews the nominations. The nominations can be for an individual or a group of employees and the nomination has to be made by their management. The action or accomplishment is evaluated against specific business-related criteria.

If the evaluating team determines that the nomination meets the criteria and merits the recognition, our President goes to the employee/employees work location to presents the award, which includes a check for a fairly significant amount of money. We also feature in our employee newsletter the award presentation and a description of the employee or employees did.

The awards are made on a quarterly basis. There's no quota - if there's no nomination that meets the criteria, there's no presentation that quarter.

The only problem we've encountered has been a lack of nominations. Not sure if that's because employees aren't doing things worthy of recognition (which I doubt) or whether their leaders just don't get around to nominating them.

We've talked with past award recipients and they've let us know they think the program is meaningful.

My employer has a recognition program that has deteriorated severely over the last few years. It was based on written recognition from the manager to the general manager. There was monthly, quarterly and yearly awards w/ anyone being eligible for the monthly. The manager at our location hasn’t nominated anyone in years and was recently given the job of sending out the “good job” certificates along with some cheap watch. He walks around bitching for all to here “I wish these assholes would stop nominating people so I could stop this BS. Nice program huh?

Unfortunately, Beverly, that's the way most formal recognition programs end up -- at least in my experience and, in seems, in the experiences of many people here.

The problem is that organizations are filled with people. :-) People have different personalities, skills, hang-ups, phobias, hopes, dreams, experiences, skills, attitudes, relationships, scars, deeply held secrets, motivating factors, etc etc etc. And it keeps our jobs interesting -- and frustrating as hell.

I work for a large financial services company. Our recognition program -- while good at heart -- fail in several ways. Employees are nominated by their peers. For instance:

A. Project teams are prone to get recognized -- especially if they saved the company lots of cashola. Hence, if you were on the project team -- yet the only thing you did was bring pens to one meeting -- chances are good you will be recognized.

B. The employees who are constantly bitching about how busy they are. These are the same ones who bitch to their clients and make their clients think they worked miracles when all they really did WAS THEIR JOB. Yet, the clients feel so damn guilty for taking up all of this team member's time that they 'nominate' the bitching and whining employee for great service.

C. Joe Blow team member who comes to work every day and gets his work done -- on time, and does not whine and complain and has good working relationship with others -- yet nobody nominates this person because he just goes about his business.

It's a Catch 22. I don't know if there is a perfect recognition program but I agree 100 percent recognition should only be given if truly deserved.

These are very interesting posts. As I was searching for ways to improve my company’s corporate awards and recognition program I stumbled upon this blog.

My companies corporate awards and recognition program is fairly new, 4 years strong, and although we stumbled out of the blocks (our awards were not delivered on time the first year), we have things rolling now. We now use fine awards & Gifts to get our awards on time.

The bread and butter of this post, "I heard a good one this morning. We were talking about employee recognition . . .and how if you're going to do it right, you have to commit to really only recognizing people who truly earn the recognition." This tip goes a long way, because if you start recognizing the wrong employees, your recognition program could possibly have the opposite effect of what it was originally intended for. Be very, very carefully and thorough in your selection process.

David Murray:

Does anybody know of a recognition program that DOES work? Dave, we have been using Marcus + Company, they specialize in recognition programs.

Laurel

When leaders get behind recognition, the program gains credibility. What self-respecting CEO would present a "virtual bouquet?"

Laurel, I completely agree with you. Employees save and make their companies tons of money. Higher ups must show that they care and are aware of their employee’s hard work and dedication so that they will follow through in upcoming years.

I hope my recommendations help some of you out, and don't be shy about mentioning them to higher ups; you shouldn't have to feel underappreciated in a place you spend 1/3 of the day!