For years I have been talking about the value of the handwritten note, thoughtful email, or even a encouraging text. And for years, readers have been asking for new ways to send these messages. How can we improve on the basic written form of recognition? Well, what if you could:

• Create a running feed where everyone could see the notes?
• Track who is using the system, discovering gaps in usage as well as who your champions are?
• Customize individual profiles that outline some basic preferences?
• Post and receive notes directly to your smart phone?
• Share your notes on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn?

Seems to me that such a set up could really facilitate organization-wide recognition - especially in a youthful organization where social networking could have the greatest effect.

Enter Sparcet, a brand new app, just out of beta testing, that could be a great way to build on existing recognition within your organization or your team. If you want to check it out:

www.Sparcet.com

It is free. Sign up and test it out. Send invites to a few people in your organization. Send me an invite if you wish. Play with the system. Tell me what you think. I see a lot of possibilities for this app, and would love to hear from you.

The features I have mentioned here are free. They have additional engagement provoking strategies that will cost your company a bit of money, but the basic app that allows you to send your messages with words of praise and appreciation is free.

When it comes to recognition, I have some of the most creative readers in the world!

I received this thank you card from Kelly Cowan of Ontario. She created the card, which is illustrated with a puzzle piece mountain, to use at work.

Take a look at the image. What does it say to you? To me, it sends a powerful message about the individual’s role in achieving success, that every “piece” is important in reaching the pinnacle. What a great way to reinforce the importance of individual contribution to team success. I love it. Thanks Kelly!

Have you created a custom card to use at work? Send me a picture and note telling me how you use the card and I will post it.

Every once in a while something happens that reinforces an important concept, the concept in this case being that the way others treat us really does affect our behavior, whether consciously or not.

A Little Background

A few years ago I had an appointment with a service provider. I left for my appointment about 10 minutes late and I should have called, but didn’t want to be even later (stop to find the number, etc). I had been going to this person, let’s call her Sally, for years and to various specialists among this group of providers even longer. I knew Sally would be okay with my being a few minutes late. Unfortunately 10 minutes became 20 due to road work. I really began to regret not calling.

When I arrived for my appointment the receptionist acted like the disapproving parent of a teenager staggering in at three in the morning. She behaved this way in spite of the fact that I had never been late in the 10 years she had worked there. “Oh well,” I thought, “Sally is the one who matters. She won’t be thrilled but she will understand. Besides,  she only needs about 40 minutes to do what needs to be done.”

I expected to apologize to Sally and then have everything be okay. Imagine my surprise when I learned that she was no longer employed there! With no warning they had switched my appointment to a new person, who was peeved at my late arrival. She took me in anyway, huffed and puffed throughout the session, in spite of my apologies, and then said she was out of time 10 minutes before the end of the hour. Instead of feeling like a client who had messed up once in many years of patronage I left feeling like a criminal.

My solution was to switch specialists but stay with this group. After all, why should I let two people ruin my relationship with a group I have been patronizing most of my adult life? If I were being logical, this would be the end of the story.

Fast Forward to this Past Week

I am upset with myself because I have completely forgotten an appointment with this group for the third time. My husband raises a very good question,

“Why do you forget appointments with these people when you are so reliable everywhere else?

Hmmm, I wondered, was it possible that it wasn’t a coincidence? I like my current specialists so what was the problem? Was there some part of me that didn’t want to go there at all, regardless of who I was working with? It didn’t make much sense, but my record seemed to speak for itself. It appears that the way I was treated by the receptionist (who still works there) and one specialist (gone) has influenced my behavior.

I am not proud of the fact that I may be unconsciously sabotaging myself and inconveniencing my providers, and I certainly wouldn’t share my poor behavior here, except to illustrate the apparent power of disrespect to demotivate long term - and in a less than conscious and rational manner.

The Organizational Link

When organizations are faced with poor engagement they often try to motivate with pay raises, promotions, or awards, Often they fail. Why? Because something has happened that has sent a strong message that people aren’t valued. Logically, employees see the that new initiative is intended to tell them that they are important to the organization. But logic doesn’t drive  motivation and engagement, emotion does.

The answer, for organizations (and me), is an honest conversation followed by behaving with integrity.

Recognition is about two things, being:

1)Visible

2) Valued

Most of our recognition efforts are focused on the second part, conveying the message that people are valued. Demonstrating the value of our employees is extremely important, and we need to do it through both our words and our actions. The more we can show our praise and appreciation the better.

But what about visibility? We don’t pay much attention to it, and yet visibility is critical to the success of our organizations. No one wants to be a nameless cog in a machine. They literally want to be recognized, as in “Oh I know who you are! You work in accounting and your name is…” Small organizations have no problem with this and consequently usually have higher levels of engagement. With bigger organizations people can get lost in the crowd.

What do organizations do to counteract this sense of isolation? Most have on-boarding processes for introducing new people around the company when they are hired. And most have mixers and other events where people can get more familiar over time. What else can be done?

Here is what Zappos is doing that I find so interesting. As part of their computer log-on sequence, employees are required to identify the photo of one employee, chosen randomly from their data base.

Isn’t that intriguing? The message I get from this process is that knowing your coworkers isn’t optional. If you want to work here you literally have to recognize everyone!

Tell me what you or your organization do to improve visibility!

Tuesday, October 18, 2011, 6:30 to 8:00 PM
Cisco Bldg. 24, Large Conference Room
510 McCarthy Boulevard
Milpitas, California 95035

6:30 to 7:00 PM   Networking and Light Refreshments
7:00 to 8:00 PM   Round Table Panel Discussion
8:00 to 8:30 PM   Networking

Panelists:
Jeff Hahn, former Quality Director at Oracle Corp. and Cisco Systems
Chi Nguyen, PMO, R&D, and CTO Office at i365, a Seagate company
Cindy Ventrice, expert and consultant on employee recognition; author
of Make Their Day: Employee Recognition that Works

Come with your questions and perspective. It should be a lively discussion.

RSVP: info@rosetogroup.com or (408) 221-9760

If you want more information check this link.

Registration is now open for the annual web series Designing and Implementing an Employee Recognition Program That Works. Register now to ensure your space.

Why this program is so popular? Keep reading…

We all know that employee recognition is critical to maintaining engagement and morale. When employees feel valued your organization is productive and innovative with great bottom-line results. Recognition can give a great return, yet most recognition programs fail to achieve the desired results. Why?

If you have read Make Their Day! Employee Recognition That Works you know that employee recognition isn’t just a plaque, a celebration, or a bump in pay.  It is first and foremost an organizational culture, a way of behaving that sends the message that employees are valued. Beyond the culture itself, a good program has advocates among the management team, sets realistic expectations, provides the skills and incentive for effective delivery, and considers the preferences of employees in its design. Miss any piece of the puzzle and your program won’t provide much return.

Good program design requires thoughtful planning. It helps to get assistance from someone who knows the ins and out, who can show where you will get your most return, who can help you avoid the pitfalls. If you have the budget, a consultant can help make your program a winner and save you money in the long term. Still, not every organization can afford to hire a recognition expert. There is an alternative.

This program design series is an affordable alternative to private consulting. For only $299*, you and your colleagues can attend a weekly webinar series, six sessions in all, where you will learn the basics of designing and implementing a recognition program. Group size is restricted to allow for plenty of interaction during the sessions. You will be able to ask questions of me and I will ask questions of you so that we can address the unique needs of your organization. To be able to offer this level of personal assistance I need to limit participation to 25 organizations (through conference room access you can have as many people within your organization participate in the webinars as you like).

This is a popular program and because I only run it once per year, you will want to register soon.

Tools, guides, and assessments. The webinar series includes lots of materials that will help you with your program.

You will receive:
Cost of Turnover Worksheets
Executive Commitment Checklist
Catalysts for Manager Commitment
Training Needs Assessment
A copy of Recognition Strategies that Work
24 Questions to Ask Before You Design
Implementation Tables
Sample Timeline to Rollout

Private consultation included: In addition to the six-hour course you will receive five assignments that will help you in your design. When you turn in the assessments and planning documents (one set per organization) I will review them and provide you with my analysis, in essence a private consultation on each of five topics.
When you complete the course your organization will also receive a half-hour private phone consultation that you can use anytime within the following six months.

If you have been considering a recognition program–
If you are concerned about hanging on to your top performers–
If you need maintain morale in spite of layoffs–
this isn’t an opportunity you can afford to pass up!

I hope you can join me.

P.S. If you missed this series, contact me about access to the recording.

]]> http://maketheirday.com/blog/?feed=rss2&p=2079 http://maketheirday.com/blog/?p=2067 http://maketheirday.com/blog/?p=2067#comments Fri, 08 Jul 2011 00:06:25 +0000 cventrice http://maketheirday.com/blog/?p=2067 HR.com and the Institutes for Human Resources (IHR) is holding a virtual Rewards and Recognition event, and it is right around the corner…
July 13th & 14th

My session, Manager-driven Recognition, is on the 13th at 12:30 Pacific/3:30 Eastern. Here is the information:

In this session we will look at the most successful method of increasing recognition satisfaction, the manager-driven approach. The session will cover the:

• Research into what employees want vs. what provides satisfaction (not the same!),
• Survey that revealed the surprising cost of the most meaningful recognition,
• Recent study that revealed the determining factor in how valued employees feel,
• 50/30/20 Rule – the preferred recognition mix,
• Managers’ role in delivering effective recognition,
• Managers as leaders of program development and culture change,
• Secret to getting commitment from managers, and
• HR as facilitators not drivers.

Focusing on manager-driven recognition engages individuals and changes cultures. Effective and resource friendly, this is a proven approach to recognition that works. Before you invest in a new or revamped program you need to attend this session!

Check out the other  offerings as well.

You can register here to attend this complimentary event right from your desk!

Frequent feedback is especially important with younger workers. Research that I completed in 2008 showed that those in the workforce 4 years or less had a strong preference for daily feedback, so anything that increases the frequency of feedback is potentially beneficial.

There are many software programs that allow coworkers to offer each other praise or thanks, increasing the frequency of feedback. What seems to set Loops apart is that it also has channels to support supervisors in setting goals and in offering feedback and coaching. Loops isn’t only a peer recognition platform, it is also a supervisor recognition platform. This is a critical distinction because, as you know if you have read Make Their Day, feedback from the supervisor is the critical. Supervisors need tools to support their recognition efforts, not replace them.

According to what I have read, Loops organizes the data to provide a sort of ongoing 360 and can be used to replace (or support) the performance review process.

According to the Rypple website the software is also being used by:
Mozilla
Gilt Groupe
Photobucket
VivaKi
Fern Expo

I look forward to learning more, particularly from those who have been using the software. If you have had experience with Loops, leave a comment.

Our session was broken into three segments that covered mapping, modeling, and mending organizational culture using the Tokenomics model. If you review the materials you will see that in the segment on mapping we talked about identifying people’s validation systems (what kinds of tokens do they collect). In the last segment (Mend It) we discussed ways to provide the desired validation that were proactive and had a positive influence on the culture.

Because the overall concept of Tokenomics is so new  we had to lay a lot of groundwork. This didn’t leave much to talk about behavioral models and simulations. It is a shame because the simulations that Alex is creating provide some great insights into individual behavior and group dynamics. He had done a few simulations that demonstrate the role managers play in defining organizational culture. Of course, with my interest in recognition I find this particularly fascinating.

Alex has written four blog posts that provide background on the simulation work that he did for our session. They are worth checking out!

On the anniversary of receiving the weekly recognition tips for one year, my subscribers “pay their dues.”  I ask them to tell me what they are doing differently and what changes have they have observed in employees.

A New Way of Working

In terms of what they do differently, for the vast majority, they simply keep recognition top of mind and offer frequent sincere praise and appreciation. Many have begun using the FASTER meeting format, and a few have come up with creative ideas that I include in future tips.

Positive Results

What changes have they observed? After offering these tips for over four years I have quite a collection of success stories. Here are just a sampling:

“The difference? It shows in the glows.”

“The biggest change I have seen on my direct team is that they appear to be more willing to offer assistance and have actually thanked me for acknowledging what they have done.  I had one employee say in all the years they have been working for our organization nobody as ever shown interest in what they do.”

“During our staff meetings we take a moment to have people talk about successes. People see that recognition and reward are part of the new culture and it has helped morale.”

“I’ve always thought of myself as someone who does a fairly good job of recognizing others.  Particularly in the last six months I’ve tried to “kick it up a notch” and have been pleasantly surprised by the positive responses I’ve received.”

“I now make absolutely sure that I thank employees for their contribution (or task they have done for me) and give them feedback on how it helped me or the quality of work. I have noticed that in my 360’s people are commenting about my great feedback now.”

“One staff has said to me it feels like I’m giving her a million dollars when I give  her [an award].”

“They volunteer to do extra for me with no questions asked.”

“I’ve noticed that people are recognizing each other more.”

“By recognizing them personally it has helped to keep communication open and create positive relationships.”

“Most of the benefit is reinforcement of good recognition behaviors.  We tend to be very busy…so recognition can get overlooked.  An indicator of success is that we do an annual survey across all of the Company on employee attitudes.  For the last two years our team has been well ahead of the function / broader Company on all categories including recognition.”

“Three years ago, I scored really low in the Competency areas of “motivating others” and “directing others” in my 360 Feedback.  I believe that the simplicity of the tips you’re sharing makes applying them more real and sincere.  I think that I’ve improved a lot because my team is more responsive now.”

“I can just “feel” that it has made a difference in the relationships we have with each other and our staff.  We took to heart one of your tips- ” At the end of the day” and have started doing Huddles with staff and leaving little notes. It does take extra time and energy but wow has it made a difference.”

Simple, But Not Easy

Each of these managers changed their habits. They found that simple behaviors, repeated consistently resulted in teams with higher morale and greater willingness to pitch in. In the words of one reader, “Wow, has it made a difference.”