The Question: How can you encourage staff that you don’t appreciate because they don’t earn it?

The Answer: I appreciate the phrasing of your question. To be Genuine, recognition must be deserved. Recognition must be earned!

While it is common to refer to people earning their pay, the reality is that everyone who shows up for work will receive a paycheque at the end of the week or month. And they will continue to receive one until the day they quit or are fired, whether they do the job well or not.

Everyone is entitled to a paycheque, but recognition is different.

Recognition is “earned” by doing one’s job well, by making contributions and achieving results that are valued because they move an organization closer to its goals or reflect its mission and values.

One hopes that everyone within the organization will be recognized from time to time. If someone never makes a recognition-worthy contribution, why are they still there?

Recognition should never be given “just because they haven’t been recognized recently.” Recognition that is undeserved diminishes the value of all the recognition you provide.

Finding reasons to recognize some employees may seem an impossible challenge. It requires you to search for minor successes. What small tasks do they do well?

Be specific in describing what the staff member did and recognize them in ways that are proportional to what they did.

Be clear that you are only acknowledging one aspect of their work and are not providing an overall assessment. By recognizing praiseworthy—albeit minor—behaviour, you demonstrate fairness in your feedback. The recognition you provide may be the boost the individual needs to pull up their socks and begin to contribute in a more meaningful way.

If, as an outcome of performance assessments, individuals are expected to set growth goals, recognition can be used to keep them on the path to improvement. Successful steps along the path may lead to recognition.