Let me ask you something.

Are you confident that people in your organisation who make a consistently high contribution are appropriately recognised?

Not sure?

Well, can I suggest that the key word in my question is ‘appropriately’.

Let me explain. Recognition is a tricky issue to manage. Lots of organisations throw a lot of money and other resources at it. Others choose to ignore it, maintaining a culture of ‘that’s what they get paid for.’

So what’s the answer?

First of all, while highly motivated people often drive themselves through their own need to do a good job, I don’t believe they can maintain this forever without being recognised—other than financially—for what they are doing.

The trick is how to recognise these people in a way that isn’t divisive. I say this because for every employee who:

• gets called up at the annual conference and given some sort of plaudit
• has their ‘employee of the month’ photo in the foyer of your HQ
• gets recommended for shopping vouchers by the monthly management ‘employee recognition committee’ …

…there’ll be 30 others spitting tacks because they think they do a better job.

In other words, recognition schemes often backfire because of the people who get ignored—and get demotivated as a result.

How about this? How about a culture where people are thanked? How about the manager who takes someone to one side and says the great job they’re doing has been noticed? How about asking employees who they think is doing a great job?

Basic, common sense, human relations stuff—which, as I have frequently implied in this blog, so often gets overlooked.

Tags: blog common sense employee employee recognition good job hq human relations key word money photo plaudit recognition committee shopping tricky issue vouchers