I can live for two months on a good compliment – Mark Twain
A story is told how one day the great Italian artist Michelangelo happened to overhear a group of people admiring his Pieta, a statue of Christ on His mother’s kneeafter His death on the cross. One man attributed the work to another sculptor, much to the chagrin of Michelangelo, who took particular pride in the Pieta. Returning to the sculpture after dark that evening, Michelangelo carved his name on it so that no similar mistake would occur in the future.
In your workplace, does recognition matter? Is it a motivator? John Baldoni, author of the book, Great Motivation Secrets of Great Leaders, says it does. “It matters a great deal. As mentioned earlier, employees have a strong desire for recognition.” Baldoni summarizes the findings of Catherine Meeks, president of Meek Associates who has conducted thousands of employee interviews. Meeks states, “If I had to pick one thing that comes through to me loud and clear it’s that organizations do a lousy job of recognizing people’s contributions.”
One pitfall leaders face is in giving proper recognition where deserved and having to cater to employees who require a lot of strokes. Dave Ramsey, in his highly acclaimed new book, EntreLeadership, says, “Too many people in business have become so shallow that they are merely transactional, not relational. The people on your payroll are not units of production, they are people.” That is practical advice worth remembering. Understanding the practice recognition and how it impacts your business is important. Consider these three benefits and the difference it can make.
Recognition builds morale. The hard work and efforts of your team are worth praising and recognition is always an investment in your people. Highly motivated people do not necessarily need the recognition, but it does signify that you are mindful of their hard work and that it is appreciated. For others who require more strokes it can be the spark they need to go to a new level.
Dale Carnegie says, “You can make more friends in two months by becoming interested in other people than you can in two years by trying to get other people interested in you.” Do you want to build morale in your organization? Would you like to see an uptick in productivity? When you recognize team members it builds morale and the environment you create will give wind to your sails.
Recognition breeds loyalty. On a scale of 1 to 10, how would you rate your employee- to- employer loyalty quotient? Rensis Likert said, “The greater the loyalty of a group toward the group, the greater is the motivation among the members to achieve the goals of the group, and the greater the probability that the group will achieve its goals.” Recognition and loyalty go hand-in-hand. If you want to build a culture of loyalty first begin with recognition.
From her employee interviews, Catherine Meeks quotes them as saying, “If my boss would just say thank you, if he would just acknowledge that I exist. The only time I hear anything is when I screw up. I never hear when I do a good job.” That type of attitude will do more to breed contempt than it will ever do to build loyalty. Loyalty is reciprocal and when it is not given it should not be expected. In short, loyalty is a two-way street.
Recognition builds bridges. When you build morale and loyalty within your organization, you are building up the greatest resource you have — your people. What is your R+V=P score? The formula is: Recognition +Value = Performance. In short, a team that is recognized and valued will perform with greater purpose and performance.
Do you need to build bridges to greater productivity, or new clientele? How about building bridges to better relationships in your office? When morale is strong then loyalty will not be far behind. Couple strong morale and loyalty and you now have the winning ingredients to create a climate of excellence.
Who have you recognized today?
©2011 Doug Dickerson
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