The five most Important Tips for Effective Recognition

1. You need to establish criteria for what performance or contribution constitutes rewardable behavior or actions.
2. All employees must be eligible for the recognition.
3. The recognition must supply the employer and employee with specific information about what behaviors or actions are being rewarded and recognized.
Anyone who then performs at the level or standard stated in the criteria receives the reward.
4. The recognition should occur as close to the performance of the actions as possible, so the recognition reinforces behavior the employer wants to encourage.
5. You don't want to design a process in which managers "select" the people to receive recognition. This type of process will be viewed forever as "favoritism" or talked about as "it's your turn to get recognized this month." This is why processes that single out an individual, such as "Employee of the Month," are rarely effective.
A Working Example of Successful Recognition
A client company established criteria for rewarding employees. Criteria included such activities as contributing to company success serving a customer without being asked to help by a supervisor. Each employee, who meets the stated criteria, receives a thank you note, hand-written by the supervisor. The note spells out exactly why the employee is receiving the recognition.
The note includes the opportunity for the employee to "draw" a gift from a box. Gifts range from fast food restaurant gift certificates and candy to a gold dollar and substantial cash rewards. The employee draws the reward, so no supervisory interference is perceived. A duplicate of the thank you note goes into a periodic drawing for even more substantial reward and recognition opportunities.