Employee Recognition: Low Cost, High Impact

Have you given positive recognition to your team lately?

Leaders I coach often report that they don’t provide enough positive recognition. Positive recognition and feeling a sense of progress are two of the biggest motivators for performance, so why don’t we do more of it?

Recent Gallup research shows that only 1 in 3 workers say they received recognition for doing good work in the past week, it's not uncommon for employees to feel that their best efforts are ignored, and employees who do not feel adequately recognized are twice as likely to say they'll quit in the next year.

Recognition doesn’t need to be time-consuming or complicated: a heartfelt thank you note or appreciative email goes a long way toward building employee morale.

A recent CEO client realized, much to his surprise, that he rarely gave positive recognition, and had a few ideas for how he might improve:  

·       In every weekly leadership team meeting, set aside 5 minutes for recognition and appreciation.

·       In personal check-ins, before jumping to the business at hand, take time to acknowledge contributions and efforts.

·       Ask team members to provide peer-to-peer recognition, and model this regularly with them.

·       Keep a stack of Starbucks gift cards for spontaneous appreciation.

What are your ideas for improving your recognition efforts?

Research can be found here: https://www.gallup.com/workplace/236441/employee-recognition-low-cost-high-impact.aspx