Recognition: A Quick, Low-cost Way to Motivate Employees

Recognizing good performance through praise or other positive action is one of the simplest and most cost-effective ways to motivate people. It provides three major benefits:

It lets people know that their performance was valued, and increases the likelihood that they will continue to perform well.

It builds confidence so that people are willing to try new things, and develop further in their jobs.

It leads to greater job satisfaction which in turn builds commitment to the manager and the employer.

Don't underestimate the need people have for recognition. Any occasion when recognition could have been given but wasn't, for whatever reason, is a missed opportunity. Here are four ways to encourage good performance:

Direct Praise. Give a subordinate a direct compliment for good performance.
Example: "John, you did a great job of dealing with that travel agent this morning. She was being difficult, but you stayed very calm."

Earshot. Tell someone else about a subordinate's performance so that he or she overhears you.
Example: (Near Peter's office, so he overhears) "Dennis, why not ask Peter about budget revisions. He handles that kind of problem really well."

Third-Party Recognition. Encourage someone else to offer recognition for good performance.
Example: "Sheila, it was Tony who made sure we completed our agenda yesterday. Why don't you tell him how well he did?"

Formal Recognition. Respond to good performance by doing something official.
Examples: Memos to other (colleagues, your manager, upper management, personnel file or mention at a staff meeting or management meeting;

Giving positive feedback through direct praise is probably the most commonly used form of recognition in management situations. However, earshot, third-party, and formal recognition are equally effective at publicizing the success of an individual to others whom he or she respects. Remember, most people feel they get too little recognition for what they do; very few feel over-recognized.

Marcia Zidle, the 'people smarts' coach, works with business leaders to quickly solve their people management headaches so they can concentrate on their #1 job to grow and increase profits. She offers free help through Leadership Briefing, a weekly e-newsletter with practical tips on leadership style, employee motivation, recruitment and retention and relationship management. Subscribe by going to http://leadershiphooks.com/ and get the bonus report "61 Leadership Time Savers and Life Savers". Marcia is the author of the What Really Works Handbooks resources for managers on the front line and the Power-by-the-Hour programs fast, convenient, real life, affordable courses for leadership and staff development. She is available for media interviews, conference presentations and panel discussions on the hottest issues affecting the workplace today. Contact Marcia at 800-971-7619.

More resources:

RELATED ARTICLES

Great Groups! - Getting a Group to Think Like a Genius
Great Groups! - Getting a Group to Think Like a Genius Wouldn't it be great to have an Edison or Einstein, or Mozart at your next meeting? If you had a genius at your meeting, do you think you might come up with better results? Let me be the first to tell you that those people won't be at your next meeting. But there are some things you can do as a facilitator - some techniques and tactics that you can use with the group that will help them work better.

Coaching Can Get The Boss In Shape
Who tells the boss that they can improve their management or leadership? How do they look at themselves objectively and identify what areas they can improve and the benefits of doing so?These days many people have become more aware of the need to look after their bodies and their health. Not only do many join gyms or start participating in sports regularly - a number are using personal trainers.

Transparency: A Key To Your Effectiveness
Last month I talked about the Skilled Facilitator principle of being curious. This month I want to talk about the complementary principle transparency.

Diversity Training: The Worst Possible Reasons to Request Executive Funding
You're on your organization's diversity committee. You have the best of intentions.

Look Good on Voice Mail
Your use of voice mail tells others a lot about you. Here's how to make a good impression.

Innovation Management - IBM Opens Lid On Its Treasure Chest
IBM, which registered 3248 patents last year, has decided that sharing technology can sometimes be more profitable than jealously guarding its property rights on patents, copyrights and trade secrets (Herald Tribune, April 11 2005).International Business Machines have come to the above conclusion 205 years after the invention of electric light - thus clearly illustrating that even the 19th largest company in the world (fortune.

Quick Tip - Effective Meetings Earn a Profit
Most people treat meetings as a free resource that can be used to deal with any issue. As a result, huge amounts of time and money are wasted on trivia.

Business Innovation - the Value of Structure
Creativity can be defined as problem identification and idea generation whilst innovation can be defined as idea selection, development and commercialisation.There are other useful definitions in this field, for example, creativity can be defined as consisting of a number of ideas, a number of diverse ideas and a number of novel ideas.

Leadership Style: What Makes A Good Boss?
In today's competitive environment, companies realize that a good boss is one who can identify and build on the talents of the staff and knows how to retain top performing employees. Take this quiz and see if you are a good boss.

Why You Need a Business Plan
This article was originally called "Do You Need a Business Plan?"The title was changed because in truth, every business needs a business plan. It's a common misconception that business plans are used only for raising capital, as in "my bank wants to see a business plan before they will approve a loan," or, "I need a business plan so I can get venture funding.

Uncovering the Secrets to Effective Performance Management
In many ways there are no secrets to implementing effective performance management. Performance Management is a process and a process which if implemented effectively should ensure that both employees and managers remain both productive and motivated.

The Gift of Gratitude
Gratitude might seem like a soft or even an obvious subject to you. Perhaps you would rather read about a leadership lesson or a marketing approach or even a motivational technique.

Problem-Solving Success Tip: Measure the Right Things.
Measure the right things. It's not enough just to measure-you have to measure the right things.

What One Thing?
A few weeks ago I asked my readers what the most important issue was in their business. Hundreds responded with a variety of answers, but one of the most common was, "How do I get everything that needs doing done?" Happily, I have an answer for this question, but like many things in life, it carries both good news and bad news.

Vampire Meetings and How To Slay Them
Meetings can be like mythical vampires - sucking the life out of intelligent and creative people. And sucking the funds out of businesses.

Involving People Gave Us the Improvements We Needed
We had a problem with handling materials in a production department. Our process required raw materials to enter the department, be processed, and leave the department.

Weaknesses of Wishing
When you're starting a business, you might wish for a lot of things, like having more than enough customers or not having to do marketing. But wishing is weak willed, having no momentum behind it.

Einstein, The Universe, And Leadership
Every since serving a hitch in the military, I have been nagged by the question that's been hanging around leadership since time immemorial: How can some leaders persuade people to believe in them and follow them and other leaders can't? But it wasn't the military that provided me with a framework to answer that question. It was Albert Einstein and his quest for the unified field theory of the universe.

6 Simple Steps to Dealing with Difficult Managers
The challenge of managing difficult managers can be rather daunting, especially when you inherit them! If they are your own born and bred, then hopefully they would have evolved into great managers!Experience shows that difficult managers are difficult because they are angry and frustrated about something or somebody (even themselves - especially where they are, or have become, a square peg in a round hole of a job), so the steps to take are these:-Always a first is to build great relationships with your people. This involves protected one-to-one time, where they feel valued.

Executive Performance -- Whos to Blame for Incompetent Managers?
A recent article in the Wall Street Journal raised the question: Who's to blame for inept managers?The answer, of course, is the superiors who hire or promote them -- but not because they intentionally select or retain poor performers. Every leader knows that his or her own success depends on putting the right people in the right positions.