recognizing your colleagues - why, when and how to say thank you in the workplace

SAYING

WHY, HOW, & WHEN

THANK YOU AT WORK

PART ONEThe Preamble

When it comes to corporate recognition programs…

There are 3 types of employees in the wild

10% of you love corporate recognition, and recognize

often

80% are cool with the idea and recognize occasionally

(when you have a moment between fire drills)

10% of you think that it is a bunch of sappy, Dilbert-

office cr@p

Without wanting to bore the 90%...

I want to quickly address the 10% of you who personally,

sometimes secretly, hate office recognition

If you’re in that group

If you’re really sceptical about all this

appreciate that while you may not personally be

motivated by, or comfortable with, giving and receiving

recognition….

It works for others around you

It’s scientifically proven

(see Robert Cialdani’s book Influence)

whether recognition works for you, is not the point

the point is that recognition is a tool

that you use to manage types of people other than

yourself

up, down, and across

so to be effective

at managing many types of people

you need to learn how to use the tool effectively

so get on the bandwagon already and stop sniping

PART TWOWhy Recognition?

• It’s good for you• It’s good for business• It’s good for them• It feels good• It’s the right thing to do

Recognizing others is good for you1

Your mother was right all along

It’s just polite to say thanks

And as our pal Machievelli teaches us…

being polite is a great way to grease social wheels

Build relationship capital, guan-xi, personal brands, or

fund reciprocity pools

call it what you will

but recognizing your colleagues just makes everything run more

smoothly

From office politics, to project timeline

management, to motivating line staff, to just simply getting what you want

giving recognition is good for you

Recognition is good for business2

As shown in industry study after industry study

in firms where recognition is rampant…

retention is up

recruiting image is up

productivity is up

quality is up

interpersonal trust is up

engagement is up

attendance is up

collaboration is up

profit is up

and the daily reinforcement of corporate values and

behaviours

that underlie and drive strategic objectives

gets stuck in a virtuous loop

in other words

recognition is good for business

Recognition is good for them3

anyone who has represented someone in performance

roundtables for promotions or bonuses knows

it’s a meat market

and those with the right stuff don’t always win

given a limited pool of rewards

and the power of marketing

to give your people the best shot at the brass ring

you’ve got to be slick at promoting them

and this is where kudos from across the firm make a big

difference

recognition is not, in itself, enough

but recognition can give your case enough umph that it can make the difference to

anyone on the borderline

In other words, powerful, detailed, & relevant

recognition can make a tangible difference with

career advancement

If you want more on the topic of marketing your

people at roundtables, check out

http://www.slideshare.net/selenasol/sample-talent-review-worksheet

Recognition feels good4

There is also a utilitarian angle

recognition also makes people feel good

research has shown again and again that primates feel good chemically when they

are thanked

and when they thank others

Don’t you feel good when someone thanks you?

Well, that feeling is mutual

Recognition is the right thing to do

5

thanking someone who has accomplished something or done something for you, is

just the right thing to do

that is, if recognition is deserved, then it’s deserved

end of story

Nothing embarrassing, self serving, or corporate

brainwashiness about that

PART TWOHow to Recognize?

• Be SMART!• Use multiple media• Share!

1 Be SMART

Recognition can be delivered in a number of

ways

Think about just saying “Thanks.”

It’s free

It’s easy

It’s fast

However, this doesn’t mean meaningless

“warm fuzzies”

Good recognition is SMART!

(See the works by Jim Brintnall)

SincereRecognition should be a genuine expression of

appreciation

MeaningfulAlign recognition with the

values, goals, & priorities that matter

AdaptableNo single recognition format

works for everyone.Recognition should be tailored

& valuable to the receiver.

RelevantRecognition should be personal

& specific

TimelyGive recognition when the

memory is still fresh

2 Use multiple media

consider any of these for your group…

(Greatly slimmed list taken from 1001 Ways to Reward Employees by Bob Nelson)

Public Acknowledgements

Mentions in Townhalls or other meetings, status-reports, Wall

of Fame, etc

Personal Thanks

Handwritten thank you note, plaque, phone call / voice mail from 1-up or 2-up (potentially

to family/spouse)

Silly Perks

Use the boss’ office for a day, Free parking spot for a week, a

skive day, gift certificate, training budget, mementos/gifts

3 Share!

Whatever the case, if appropriate, share praise

as widely as possible

For example, if you are thanking a peer, cc their

boss and other key stakeholders

Each point of distribution adds value to the

recognition

the person you are thanking looks good

and you look good

PART THREEWhen to Recognize?

If you are using the SMART paradigm, you should focus on recognizing things that

are strategically Meaningful

I would say, value-aligned behaviours in the workplace

so the behaviours that you recognize should be specific

to your strategic context

but here are some examples…

BEHAVIOUR REFERENCE

Software Engineering http://mastersinsoftwareengineering.net/2012/15-qualities-every-software-engineer-should-have/

Intrapreneurship http://www.evancarmichael.com/Leadership/5155/34-Ways-to-Encourage-Intrapreneurship.html

Being a Manager http://www.phdinmanagement.org/25-qualities-and-characteristics-of-a-good-manager.html

Being a Leader http://www.examiner.com/article/the-25-most-important-leadership-behaviors

Collaboration http://amansingh316.wordpress.com/2012/06/15/top-10-collaborative-behaviors/

Integrity (about half way down the page)

http://www.wabccoaches.com/bcw/2008_v4_i2/print.html

PART FOURFinal Note

recognizing is easy to forget in the trenches of projects

It’s OK. We’re all human

just set yourself a KPI to recognize a colleague at

least once per week

that shouldn’t even be a stretch target

Heck. Schedule it into Outlook to make sure you do

it

but please stop letting opportunities slip by

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