The Question: How do we deliver recognition in a larger organization?
The Answer: The answer depends on your position within the organization. It’s different if you are a frontline leader, who supervises the work of a small number of workers, than if you lead an organization with hundreds or thousands of employees.
Whatever your role, wherever you fit in the hierarchy, you can always take the initiative to increase the amount of recognition for the people whose work you supervise. Don’t wait for others to take the lead. Recognize excellent work when you see it. You don’t need anyone else’s permission to acknowledge work well done. In the words of Mahatma Gandhi, “Be the change you want to see in the world.”
That said, when top leaders set the example, the commitment to staff recognition will spread more quickly.
I was specific about the audience for my most recent book, Thanks, Again! More Simple, Inexpensive Ways for Busy Leaders to Recognize Staff: managers, supervisors, school principals, small business owners, department heads and other frontline leaders who grasp the power of staff recognition.
Thanks, Again! was not meant for senior leaders. Yet it contains a few pages that look at recognition from the perspective of senior executives who understand the importance of staff recognition and are committed to creating a culture where staff feel they belong, feel valued as individuals and appreciated for what they do.
Senior leaders in larger organizations cannot do it alone. They can’t recognize everyone in the organization. They obviously can’t know all employees, and what they do, well enough to provide recognition that is Explicit, Appropriate and Timely.
They must share this responsibility with other leaders in the organization. Recognizing staff becomes an expectation of leaders up and down the hierarchy.
It begins with senior leaders becoming role models for a recognition-rich workplace by recognizing people who report directly to them for behaviours they want to see repeated. That includes managers and supervisors recognizing staff members for doing their jobs well. Senior leaders should recognize the recognizers.
Senior leaders can pave the way by providing the tools and training others need to recognize staff effectively. Leadership team meetings should regularly include discussions of the use of staff recognition to boost morale, increase engagement and improve retention.
Senior leaders can pass on staff recognition tips, tools and techniques they encounter. They can ensure all managers and supervisors have a budget for staff recognition.
During regular one-on-one meetings with their direct reports, senior leaders can ask them what they have done to recognize staff since the last meeting.
A useful criteria to include when recruiting for leadership positions is the candidates’ demonstrated ability to recognize staff. While people can aways be trained to recognize others, the ideal situation is to hire people who have a record as recognizers.
During hiring interviews for leadership positions, candidates should be asked to describe how they have recognized a staff member or co-worker for doing their job well. Successful candidates should have a track record of recognizing others effectively, appropriately and frequently for their contributions or achievements.
Effective staff recognition can begin anywhere in the organization, but when top leaders set the example the commitment to staff recognition will spread more quickly.
Theme # 4 (Senior Executives, Front-line Staff and Recognition) of Thanks, Again! was written for senior leaders. Thanks, Again! is available from bookstores everywhere, including Audreys Books, 10702 Jasper Ave., Edmonton (and on its website), online from Amazon, Indigo, FriesenPress Bookstore, Barnes & Noble and from the Apple Books app.
