Easy, authentic & impactful employee recognition. Yes, it’s totally possible.

(3-minute read time)

I was a Supervisor in Quality Assurance.  One of the lower-performing team members I had been monitoring had a really big win and I wanted to acknowledge him.  The next day I left early for work, stopped at a store and purchased a dozen balloons, maybe more… I went to the office and did up his desk to the 9’s!  I was so excited, his reaction was sure to be the highlight of my day.    

Turned out his reaction WAS rather memorable.   Just not in the way I expected. Have you ever heard of globophobia?  This was well before Oprah revealed herself as having it in 2013 and I sure hadn’t ever heard of it.  Turns out it is the fear of balloons. Turns out it’s a real thing. And, it turned out that my guy, the recipient of my recognition efforts, had it.   

Let’s face it.  Sometimes our recognition efforts fall flat.  That’s one of the many reasons why we don’t do it as much as we want to or think we should.  Other reasons might sound like: 

• “It takes time, time I don’t have”   
• “It’s just a feel-good tactic, it doesn’t make that much of a difference” 
• “They’re adults do I really need to give out “atta-boys” and “atta-girls”?
• “I don’t know what to do.  They don’t want company tchotchkes or the same old gift cards… I want it to be meaningful”
• “It’s too complicated, I have to follow the company process/system”

If you have found yourself thinking any of these thoughts, or some variation of them, no worries – you aren’t alone!  The Center for Creative Leadership reported this year that “Inspiring Others” is among the top concerns of leaders across the globe.  Many of us are challenged with doing recognition effectively. Heck, inspiring OURSELVES is hard enough some days – right?  

At the same time, we can’t deny the proven links between employee recognition and important factors like the employee experience, employee engagement, retention, and recruitment.  Well, we can deny the links, but not without consequence. Really, it’s just easier to acknowledge the links and find ways to leverage what we know works. And here’s what definitely works – employees who feel valued.    

Employees who feel valued are valuable employees.   

Here’s the caveat.  We do not have the power to make anyone feel anything. At no time are we ever able to control someone else’s emotions. Never. Not at home, not at work, not at our kids’ schools. Nowhere, no one, never.

If you could make your employees feel a certain wouldn’t you would have done it by now? You probably would’ve chosen to make them not only feel valued but also motivated, creative, innovative, inspired, energized, confident, etc. But our employees don’t always feel this way and you can’t force them.

We can, however, create an environment that is optimally primed for team members to experience the desired feelings.  One key way to accomplish this is through meaningful employee recognition. The good news is the recipe for meaningful employee recognition has only one ingredient:  The belief that it matters. That it’s an important and impactful part of your job as a leader.

Start with a minimum baseline.  What is the minimum amount of times you will commit to performing some form of employee recognition per week?  Start there. Pick a number. Commit. Follow through. Watch the positive impacts. Then watch how your belief in the value of employee engagement naturally grows.   

Would you like to experience even more of the positive results from focusing on employee recognition?  Want more highly engaged team members, who produce high-quality work and are loyal to the organization?  I can definitely help, just click here to schedule a free, 30-minute discovery session.