Make Their Day Blog

When you don’t get any recognition for your work it can be difficult to give it. Think of recognition like food. You are starving (for recognition) and, if you are a manager, you are still  expected to “feed” others. When this happens you are likely to say something along the lines of what I recently heard come out of the mouth of a supervisor:

“Your design is really excellent! In fact, it looks a lot like one I sketched up over the weekend.”

I could almost see this “starving” supervisor reaching out, ready to hand a chunk of warm, crusty, butter-slathered bread to the employee. Then, at the last minute, she snatches it back  and shoves it into her own mouth.

While I understand the desire to feed yourself first, there are a couple of problems with this:

1) A stolen recognition “meal” isn’t all that satisfying. While recognizing yourself in front of others has a place, this isn’t it, and this supervisor isn’t going to feel any more valued.

2) The employee who was recognized by his supervisor for excellent work heard only that he wasn’t original. To top it off, his respect for his supervisor just went down a couple (more) notches.

So, what is the answer? That depends on who you are.

Managers & Supervisors

For managers and supervisors the answer is:

Give recognition freely. Give staff credit for great work, ignoring the part you played. Thank people for doing their jobs (no, a paycheck is not enough). Don’t expect an instant return.

Expect a long-term return on your efforts. Give credit and people will respect you more, cooperate more, take more initiative, and yes - occasionally recognize you as well.

Maintain the appropriate supervisor mindset. Know that, as a supervisor, your job is to supervise your people. Inherent in that fact is that when your employees’ work is good, you are doing good work. For you to acknowledge the part you played is redundant. Remember, the more they shine, the better it reflects on you.

Everyone Else

Do you know that middle managers and supervisors are the most under-recognized group out there? Give them a little praise and appreciation. You will be amazed at how much more likely they are to give provide you with more recognition when they aren’t starved themselves. Recognize your supervisor and  managers in other departments or groups. Privately give them the praise and appreciation they deserve. Everyone will be the beneficiary.

Copyright 2010 Cindy Ventrice

We are wrapping up a really tough year. We have experienced layoffs and budget cuts and are all struggling to do more with less.

Many people were laid off this year. Some are back to work, at least with temporary assignments. Others are still struggling to find work. It can be really demoralizing. If you know someone who has lost their job this first resolution is for you:

1) Stay connected. For those who have been out of work for awhile, it is easy to fall into a funk and withdraw. Help them out. Send an occasional email, take them to lunch, make a LinkedIn introduction, anything that let’s them know you are thinking about them.

For those who are employed, employment generally means a greater workload, less resources, less compensation and/or benefits. In some workplaces the atmosphere has become oppressive while in others, people have come together with a strong ‘can do’ spirit.  The atmosphere all depends on the attitudes and actions of absolutely every person who works there.

We all want to work in a great place. If you don’t, be the catalyst for positive change. Here are two simple workplace resolutions that will help turn your organization around:

1) Say thank you. These two simple words tell your colleagues that you appreciate them. You will soon see how appreciative they are as well.

2) Acknowledge your coworkers. Few of us work in a vacuum. Acknowledge the support and encouragement that others provide. Praise their contributions. Share the credit.

Two workplace resolutions (that work equally as well at home): praise and appreciation. Neither takes much time. You can keep it as simple as you like. Offer both and you will see smiles. People will be more cooperative and positive. Your workplace will be more enjoyable (and probably more productive as well!)

These are resolutions you can keep and you will make someone’s day over and over again. What would you add to the list?

Copyright 2009 Cindy Ventrice

As Thanksgiving in the U.S. approaches I can think of no better time to reflect on the value of telling employees that they are valued.

Readers of Make Their Day! Employee Recognition That Works are aware that there are  four elements of meaningful recognition.  The acronym PORT stands for Praise, Opportunity, Respect, and Thanks or Appreciation.

Many of us say “Thank you” all the time. It is as much a habit as “Hi. How are you?” But habitual thanks aren’t the kind of appreciation I am thinking about. I am thinking about - the kind that is firmly grounded in gratitude.

Try this exercise:

Make a list of ten people you work with, for, or report to you. For each person on your list write down what it is about him or her that you rely on. Is it a certain skill set? An attitude? A behavior? How do these traits make your life better/easier? Got it? Then you’ve got gratitude. You can turn this into meaningful appreciation by communicating it. Put it in a note card, on a bulletin board, in an email - the medium isn’t critical, but the message is!

Kirsten Smith of the provincial government of British Columbia maintains a “Thank You” binder.  Her staff loves it enough that they wanted to share the practice with other parts of the organization. They sent  the following note to be posted on their internal website:

“Manager, Kirsten Smith shows recognition to her staff by keeping and maintaining a “Thank You” binder that holds all the comments and emails about her staff, thanking them for all their hard work or help, etc. At each staff meeting she pulls out the “Thank You” binder and reads out loud all the thank you notes or comments she’d received since the previous meeting. I know Kirsten believes that informal recognition is extremely important in fostering pride, but can often be overlooked and that this type of recognition supports an employee’s identification with the organization and its mission and is a simple and powerful way to strengthen, encourage and reinforce all of the behaviours that are necessary for an organization to achieve success. ”

A manager getting recognition for being good at recognition! Staff that wants to share her best practices. I think that is pretty fantastic!

Recently, I was asked about some research I completed in 2007 and in digging around, found this post:

Tuning Into Employee Preferences

In it, I share the results of a survey I had completed that asked respondents about the manager behaviors that communicated to them that they were valued.  Praise, feedback on your work, a manager who listens, which would be most valued? You might be surprised by the answer.

And while you are there, it is worth asking yourself if you are doing what matters most.

All best,

Cindy Ventrice

A manager I coached wanted to build greater rapport with her team by offering them recognition. She told me that any awards had to be very inexpensive. She had very little money to spend, only about $30 for a team of nine. I told her she could offer inexpensive, high-impact recognition, but that she was going to have do a bit of work to make it happen.

I gave her her first assignment.

Think about three things:

1)  What is unique about each member of your team?

2) How do members contribute to the work the team does?

3) What do you most value about each individual’s role within your organization?

She finished the assignment and got back to me with her list. She had put a lot of though into how each person made a unique contribution to the team. One employee was great at relieving group stress by lightening things up. Another had a gift for organizing the work environment. A third was superb with difficult customers.

She told me that she learned something in doing this assignment. Thes exercise made her think about what was valuable about each person, and it increased her appreciation of the work each did. She learned that, in fact, she did value every member of her team. While initially, she had her doubts about one or two, she realized that each contributed, although some in ways that weren’t immediately visible or obvious.  She had simply failed to “see” them clearly.

I gave her a second assignment. I asked her to think of a symbol for each trait or behavior. These symbols should be something she could purchase for no more than a few dollars: a puzzle for solving challenges, a silly mask for bringing humor to the workplace, a slinky for flexibility.

She made her list, shopped for and found appropriate items, put some thought into her presentation, and then held her awards ceremony.

She reported back to me that at the end of her presentation, she said, “I hope you all know how much I value you.” One member of the team spoke up. She said, “I do now.”

Want to build better rapport with your team?

Do this exercise.

Make a list of your team members.

1) Note what is unique about each:

• characteristics
• valued behaviors
• specific ways in which they support the team.

2) Don’t leave anyone out. You can find something you value about every single person if you really look.

3) Once you have completed the list, tell team members what you value. Or, take the next step.

4) Add the symbolic awards. Do a more formal presentation of each. You can make the presentations one to one or to the group as a whole, whatever is a better fit with your team culture.

This is recognition that acknowledges what you value. It is inexpensive. It is meaningful. It will be appreciated.

© Cindy Ventrice

Most of the time when I talk about recognition, it is from the perspective of the manager.

In How About Thank You?  by Nan Russell you’ll read about appreciation in the workplace from a different perspective.

So.. how have you shown your appreciation for your boss lately?

How About Thank You?
http://www.success.bz/articles/1937/how_about_thank_you

Thank you.

These are two simple words that are becoming rarer every day.

If you don’t believe me try this experiment:

For the next week, every time you make a purchase (in person) pay attention to what the clerk says at the end of the transaction. I have been doing this for a while and have found that there is a very good chance the response will be “have a nice day” or “here you go.”

Warms your heart doesn’t it?

I find myself saying thank you at the end of a transaction far more often than the clerks do. 

Yes, I do believe these two words are getting rarer.

We could get into a discussion of why this is happening, but to my point today…

If the thank you is becoming rarer, it is even more important that you remember to thank the people we work with. Expressing appreciation is a critical element of recognition that works.

Copyright 2008 Cindy Ventrice

I experienced the dark side of technology this week. The email server I use to send my weekly recognition tips malfunctioned and reset the subscriptions of at least 500 people, undoing their carefully scheduled existing subscriptions.

This reset meant annoying and confusing confirmation emails in the inboxes of subscribers (often more than one). And then, not knowing who had experienced the problem, I sent an email of apology to all subscribers. It took hours for me to put the database to some semblance of its former self - long enough for many people to receive the wrong tip in their inbox the following morning.

I tell this story here, because like most ordeals there was a lesson for me and in this case it wasn’t a technology lesson. Although it may be time to find a new vendor…

No, here is what I learned:

During this 24-hour ordeal I lost 20 subscribers. Most hadn’t been subscribed very long and most likely concluded that getting my weekly tips wasn’t worth the hassle.

During this same period I gained 13 new subscribers who were referred by existing readers! Understand, they referred me when my system was basically intruding on their inboxes. I have to say that their level of trust did not go unnoticed!

I also received 65 emails from subscribers with supportive comments:

• They commiserated on technology
• Assured me that no harm was done
• Took the opportunity to thank me for the weekly tips
• I even heard stories of what they learned from the tips and the changes that resulted. And the positive emails continue to trickle in.

So, the lesson? I learned that in spite of the fact that I have never met most of my readers, we really have built a relationship based on mutual respect. It is a relationship strong enough to stand a little annoyance and for that I am grateful!

Cindy

For most of us, changing behavior is an uneven process. It’s two steps forward. One step back.

If you want to be better at recognizing others there are some techniques that can help you:

1) Make recogntion the header of your to do list, figuratively and literally. Every time you think about what needs to be done ask yourself where you might sprinkle in a little praise or appreciation.

2) Stick a reminder on your computer. Try the acronymn PORT which stands for Praise, Opportunity, Respect, and Thank you. These are the four elements of meaningful recognition.

3) Leave yourself a message, voice mail or email, at the end of the day with a reminder of something you will do to recognize someone on your team. It will be the first thing you retrieve in the morning.

4) Subscribe to and read the Make Their Day weekly tips!