Piece By Piece

Recognition has become a discipline within HR.  It is the art of providing or delivering attention to someone for a particular accomplishment.  It could be about the achievement of a specific goal or to mark a milestone within the organization.  It is valuable and provides proof that the company sees what its employees are doing and, sometimes, for the way in which those actions benefit the organization.

Of course, if someone works on a project for six months and it turns out great, it's very nice to be recognized for having finished the work well.  There is a benefit to those who see how the achievement of their work matters.  Connectivity is very important and it allows the performer to see how action produces real results, per person, piece by piece.  All of the cogs on the wheel are fantastically connected.  It's a great picture and the recognition factor drives it home.

Is that it?  

Long are the conversations regarding felt needs and reward.  Do we merely offer a plaque, a gift card, a weekend away and check off the box of recognition?  When dealing with real people with real baggage and real emotion living real lives, providing inauthentic trinkets may not pack the punch hoped for by the organization.  And what can often happen is that companies become bitter towards recognition because they sense an ungrateful response by employees.  What was meant to be a motivator becomes an open sore of tension pushing division.

As practical as we ought to be in HR (don't get me started on the value of business acumen and metrics, people!), we cannot swing the pendulum so far that we forget the people we are trying to serve.  Consider the concept of restorative recognition.  This is the kind of recognition that knows where people are, what makes them tick, what their circumstances are and then rewards them in the context of a real situation.  The deficiencies in their lives may not all be met, but we're providing appropriate levels of engaged recognition that we know will touch upon it.

The Make a Wish Foundation is magical because for years it has provided terminally ill children with the opportunity to have their greatest wish granted.  From going to a prom to meeting the President to being Batman for a day, the stories have touched the hearts of those precious children, of their parents and families and of the millions who watch the stories unfold.  It affects the heart.  

An employee who is struggling to pay for a child's college education is a real need.  We can know that.  Handing that employee a gift card for Macy's as a reward for an achieved goal or milestone is not going to solve the need of paying for college.  Nor is the point to give them $5000 as the reward in order to meet that need.  Think.  Be creative.  What would it mean to that employee to be recognized for the work he/she did that met the criteria for reward by handing him/her proof of monies being deposited into his/her child's college campus account for textbook purchases or towards the meal plan?  It's thoughtful.  It's given in light of knowing your employees.  It's an absolute way of endearing employees to the organization even more.

Think I'm crazy?  Get in line.  The point is that we can know these things about our staff and make a choice to recognize in restorative ways.  People carry around burdens and dreams.  Practically, we can't grant wishes all day, nor do we have the budget to do so.  Yet, we can use our imaginations and creativity to do something more than rummaging through a drawer in our office to find an Amazon gift card for a giveaway.

How many of your staff didn't get to go on a honeymoon?  How many haven't been able to take their spouse out due to a lack of affordable child care?  How many dreamed to be a professional baseball player?  How many trained as a dancer all throughout their childhood and have no opportunity to fit it into life now?  Now, be creative.  Work with a vendor partner to secure a weekend or an overnight to a bed and breakfast.  Work with a local certified and approved child care service provider for one night of child care (and throw an Uber and dinner in).  Get tickets to a baseball game and work with the event staff to throw some confetti on the employee to celebrate the Home Run Hitter he/she is at work.  Provide a six-week dance class to the employee that can happen after work in an open space right in the building.

These aren't all of the solutions.  They may be none in your particular case, but the point is that restorative recognition goes a long way to show that our involvement is thoughtful and done as a result of knowing our people.  As said earlier, connectivity is very important and it allows the performer to see how action produces real results, per person, piece by piece.  By doing this in a tailored manner, we cut to the soul of our people as well as of ourselves.  As a blubberer myself, I can tell you that when we're this thoughtful, people are moved and the tears flow.  

Get those creative juices flowing and know that people need more than a crystal pyramid with their name engraved.  That isn't likely to hit them deeply, but tickets to a concert of the one performer they've never had the chance to see before will.  Because you took the time to know them.  Because the company is invested in its employees.  Because we're building community.

Holding Out for a Hero

It is easy to look to someone else to fulfill our needs or desires.  Talk shows are full of people who've chosen a mate to be someone's "all in all" and, for whatever reason, it doesn't work out.  People tend to want to find that magic in someone that will rescue them from their current situation.  We do it with people, but we also do it with stuff.  We want that lottery win so bad.  We think that will rescue us from our current situation.  Then how is it that 70% of lottery winners are bankrupt?  We don't find our hero to be what we expect it to be.

For those of us old enough to remember School House Rock, there was a song called "My Hero, Zero."  The point of the lesson is that by itself a zero is nothing but put it behind a "1" and you've got "10," an increase numerically.  The Zero finds itself to be heroic in that it's nothingness turns into value when used in conjunction with another number.

As "People People," we get so many chances to bring zeroes to heroic levels.  I am not talking about budgets (I've tried that before and some accountant always catches my "accidental" additional zero at the end of the HR budget), but rather finding value in all of those who work with and for us.  The quietness of a worker should not be allowed to signify his/her minor contribution to the whole while the boisterous worker seems to get credit for things he/she had nothing to do with just because of loudness.  Cultivating those "zeroes" into heroes is part of our strategic responsibility.

A hero is one who is admired for performing great and/or brave acts and has fine qualities, according to Webster's Dictionary.  Aren't there some people in our workplaces that have those qualities and others simply do not know or notice, including the hero himself/herself?  Give consideration as to how to cultivate heroes.

1. Look for those who do exceptional work.  I'm not talking about the person who answers twenty calls a day whose job it is to answer phones; that is not a hero.  We cannot reward basic job responsibilities by calling that person a hero.  It has to be great or brave.  How about the worker who stays late to finish a project for three weeks without most people knowing?  How about the person who looks for ways to improve processes or technology for the good of the company even when it's not in his/her direct job description?
2. Listen to others tell stories.  Set the tone for this, though.  Someone coming to tell you that Joe is a great guy because Mike, who sits next to him, is tough to deal with and Joe doesn't complain about him.  Really?  I mean, I appreciate that, but Joe is no hero.  What about those of us who have relatives who are annoying to deal with?  Where's my hero trophy (just kidding, Family, there's no one annoying in our family besides me)?  Cultivate a forum for people to cheer others on by noticing the great or brave work someone is doing.  We should encourage our employees to notice great acts from great people.
3. Don't make this about gift cards.  I get that we want to reward people and I can appreciate the gesture, but the gesture can become the goal rather than things being done for true heroic reasons - rescue, encouragement, betterment, bravery, etc.  A $5 gift card to Starbucks is not equal to someone truly doing something marvelous.  And on this note, don't make each month a "have to" in finding someone.  Haven't you worked for those companies who have an Employee of the Month and wind up picking someone "who hasn't had it yet this year"?  Wow, that's stellar criteria.

Heroes are not those in front, per se, seeking the accolades.  We've got to look for them.  The humility coupled with the great or brave act is admirable and sets a tone for others.  The culture becomes attuned to the qualities in those being recognized.  It sets a pattern that we want repeated.

I am holding out for a hero in each of your companies.  You need one.  And lest I forget to say, you may actually be that hero for your company.  And if your company hasn't recognized it yet, keep doing what you're doing.  It's not for you to determine what management ought to do for you.  You just keep doing what you're doing because it's the right thing to do.  We are still allowed to do that; no federal or state law requires us to change that practice (yet)!

For the Love of Money

Is money the only reward we push?  I have had the consistent message of money in my face all week.  Money is all over the place and is a constant source of stress for individuals, couples, families and businesses.  Just look at the US Government; the shut down is all about money.  Who has it and who does not.

Everyone wants to make more and spend more.  Powerball and MegaMillions are national stories every week.  We want so much to make "bank." We regard success as based upon how much you make and what that gets you.  As I sit in Miami today, I see tons of Maseratis, Porsches and beyond.  The status behind the stuff has value here and elsewhere.  

Remember the first season of The Apprentice?  A bunch of people gathered together to learn from Donald Trump as to how to be successful (dysfunctional) business people.  It was a hit and we were glued.  And the main push for each "employee"?  Money.

And the rub is that most surveys show that compensation is not the primary driver for employees.  How can this be?  If we all want stuff and need cash-money to make it happen, then that should be tops, right?  Instead, we see recognition, efficiency, loyalty, purpose and effectiveness as tops on various reports and surveys.  Money cannot buy these things (the Mob tried to do this and it didn't work for them...how do we expect it to work for us?).

So, why the intense efforts around compensation as opposed to these other higher scoring characteristics?  Two realities seem to jump out to me.

First, putting the time into efficiency and effectiveness, for example, takes more time.  We seem to be okay to throw money at a problem or situation, sometimes even without a plan.  But, the thought of putting efforts into strategizing and being deliberate about enacting change is exhausting.  Here's the deal, though, if we don't start doing it, these same people will continue to leave our companies and take the knowledge, skills and aptitudes that we need.  As much as the effort costs, in terms of time and prioritization, we need to do it.

Set aside time to sketch out the framework of strategy around talent management.  Consider opportunities to influence recognition and purpose.  How can employees have some input in these areas?  Generate buy-in through inclusion.  Ask for ideas around efficiency and then recognize those great ideas.

But the second issue could be the executive team.  You may be on point with the planning component  and put together a framework, but when you presented it to senior leadership, they said "oh, thank you."  And after that, it went to the bottom of a pile never to be shown the light of day again.  So, what to do?  Build a business case.  Use real numbers around engaged employees versus non-engaged.  Use benchmark data to show stats behind your perspective.  Make it real to the bottom line.

Measure what productivity has been like over the past five years.  Is it down?  Up?  Why?  Just lucky?  More demand?  Great talent?  How do you know?  Answer those questions and you can start to lay a foundation for the business case.

Let's be deliberate in our business partnership in this arena.  We know what is ultimately driving employees and money is not the top answer.  By the way, I am not saying it doesn't matter because it does (it kinda helps to be able to pay your mortgage, you know?).  However, from a percentage standpoint, we spend more time on comp analysis and related issues than we do running after the real top answers.  Money is important, but it is not the primary motivator. We know it so let's act on what we know.

Ribbon in the Sky

Success stories are a standard in marketing.  In the health and wellness industry, for example, weight loss companies like Jenny Craig, Weight Watchers and NurtiSystem spend millions on celebrity testimonials.  And some of these celebrities have seen a resurgence in their careers as a result, like Marie Osmond, Kirstie Alley, Valerie Bertinelli, etc.  We love to see the dramatic difference in the before and after shots.  Those photos inspire and amaze us.  We celebrate the victory with that celebrity (like we know them or something). 

Victory is a great achievement.  It's worth celebrating.  Losing weight is a great accomplishment, but it is not the only accomplishment worth celebrating.  In our organizations, we have employees reaching and exceeding goals.  Are we celebrating?

As some of you know, I am big on expectations and measurement.  I believe that it's necessary to set clear expectations and goals and then follow up to measure how those things are being implemented, reached and if there is a need for change in approach.  We need to set our staff up for success right from the start.  I am, also, a believer of celebrating with those who meet or exceed those expectations and goals.

In ancient times, the act of erecting a monument to recognize a victory was commonplace.  Great kings and conquerors took pride in the work they were doing (however terrible it might have been now that we look back) and as such, wanted every traveler who came into the territory to know.  While building a monument out of stone and marble might not be practical or cost-efficient, we can recognize those achievements in public and lasting ways.

It's also okay to recognize types of accomplishments differently.  Someone who meets the quota they were given might not deserve a huge fanfare in comparison to the one who superseded his/her quota by 50%.  The type of recognition might vary, but the act of at least throwing a ribbon in the sky is what matters.  Motivation from the recognition is a fact.

The Maritz Institute encourages use of a BET technique.  

• B - State the Behavior.  Let employees know what's expected of them and how it will be measured.  
• E - State the Effect.  The employees can handle understanding how what they do will impact the whole.  Let them know what difference they are making by performing the desired behavior.  
• T - Thank you! Recognize what an employee does out of a spirit of gratitude.

And I know the other side of it. I know that we're inundated with gift cards and online point-earnings that can lead to fabulous trips.  I know that we're not interested in one more initiative to manage.  I know that we're promised the world by technology providers but, at some level, we've got to manage it.  I get it.  And what I, also, get is that the CBA (cost benefit analysis) around recognition is worth the time and effort.  Employees who get to raise their hands in victory by the encouragement of their managers are more likely to learn new skills, to creatively think through current work processes and to lead those around them to a higher level of output.  Those are some pretty good reasons to build a monument.

Grab a couple of employees this week or next and test it out.  Recognize goals met or exceeded.  Share it with teams and divisions.  Throw a few "atta boys" out there in public.  The time spent will be well worth it if it's done consistently and with genuine enthusiasm (not an over-the-top-obviously-not-heartfelt attitude).  

And now, I am going to take some pictures with the current monument to victory...an unopened ice cream container in the freezer that's been mocking me since it's been brought into the home.  Yeah, baby, willpower!