Making Recognition Happen

All the research polls clearly show that one of the highest reasons for leaving a place of employment is a lack of recognition for workplace contributions.

You can learn to solve the challenges in your organization's approach to giving people effective recognition, by looking at The 3 Factors for Giving Real Recognition™.

Understanding The 3 Factors for Giving Real Recognition provides you with insights as to where your own organization is in appreciating the work of your employees.

What are these three factors? The following diagram shows these three factors, which consist of Values, Skills and Attitude. It also indicates how they interrelate with each other.

Skills Factor
Many companies and organizations make good investment of time and money in providing training in interpersonal and other communication skills essential for effective recognition giving.

Awareness Factor
To even get to the Skills Factor stage, one must be aware of the importance of recognizing one's employees as a key element to increasing employee satisfaction. Many organizations are so focused on bottom-line results they neglect the very people that make it possible for them to be successful.

Values Factor
Few organizations make the commitment to align recognition initiatives with the philosophy and strategy of the organization. Yet it is the values, the beliefs and driving force behind why things happen, that will ignite the spark behind a successful recognition process.

Linking The 3 Factors
Let's take a look at how these 3 factors interrelate with one another.

By looking at the diagram you will see how each factor overlaps with each other. This creates four possible outcomes that will impact upon effective recognition giving.

1) COULD GIVE
The interaction of Values and Skills occurs when an organization believes things like recognition are important and when many of the skill sets required are also present. What's missing is awareness that there is even an issue of a lack of recognition.

Examples of this often occur in large corporations. They have excellent compensation and benefits packages, formal and nominated awards events are ongoing, and then the employee satisfaction survey comes back with a dismal evaluation of employees feeling a lack of appreciation for their contributions.

Leaders have become unaware of the importance of daily recognition in people's lives. Often, reward and recognition programs have become so "mechanized" they have neglected the human element in the equation.

2) WOULD GIVE
When the factors of Values and Awareness cross over, an organization is aware of the concern over giving and receiving recognition, and also believes recognition is important and should be addressed.

The Skills in designing a recognition process that will last, and providing appropriate interpersonal skills for everyone in the organization is what is lacking.

Evidence of this occurs in organizations where only certain leaders, because of strong interpersonal skills, are making sure recognition happens but throughout most of the organization it is not happening at all.

3) SHOULD GIVE
Where Skills and Awareness interact in an organization, leaders are certainly aware of the need for recognition and even have the skills. The problem here is that the organization may not have clearly identified values to sustain recognition giving, or the leaders are purely choosing to do nothing about it.

In many cases, organizations in this sector do have values. The values are just focused on results, money, shareholders, etc. Leaders must also make a commitment to showing how they value the worth of all of their employees.

4) DO GIVE!
It is only when all 3 factors of Values, Skills and Awareness converge, that the fourth sector emerges. This is where Real Recognition™ happens.

You see it when acts of recognition are a way of life in an organization and not just because of another program of the month.

Such companies and organizations are aware of the importance and need for recognition.

They believe it is an outward expression of their organizational values, like respect. Time, money and resources, are committed to providing the necessary skills for leaders at all levels to become competent and confident in giving people the Real Recognition™ they all desire to receive.

Discover What "Gives"

In wanting to become the best place to work for and helping your leaders learn how to effectively motivate and keep great employees, find out which of the 3 factors are in place in your company. When you discover "what gives", you will know the direction you need to take to progress your organization in giving people "Real Recognition".

Roy Saunderson is a professional speaker and consultant. As founder and president of the Recognition Management Institute, he works with companies that want to be the best place to work for and with leaders who want to motivate and keep great employees. To learn more call
519-685-0564, E-mail RoySaunderson@RealRecognition.com or visit http://www.RealRecognition.com.

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