Over the past two years, we have interviewed hundreds of people from around the world in a range of fields from parking lot attendants to CEOs of major companies. What motivates them? Recognition! People want to know that what they do every day matters and makes a difference. The key element in enhancing employee morale and
motivation is to recognize your employees.
There is a huge power in acknowledgment, recognition, and praise
but it often makes us uncomfortable so we avoid it. Every time we avoid it, we
rob ourselves and our organizations of the benefit it brings. On this worksheet
you will find several tips and tools to help you start to increase the level of
recognition in your organization.
Additional
Activities
Acknowledgement list
Make a list of all your employees. At the end of each day or week,
take note of one way in which each of them made your job easier. Be specific.
At some point during the week take time to compliment them on the thing you
noticed.
Weakly check-in
Go up to fellow employees at the end of each day or once a week
and ask them what they would like to be recognized for. Recognize them for
that. Note that you are trying something new. Be persistent. It will take several
attempts before they will get used to it.
Acknowledgement wall
Take a pack of Post-It Notes out at a meeting and designate a wall
where people can post anonymous compliments to fellow workers. Have them write
the person’s name on the top of the note and the compliment on the inside.
Compliments
can remain anonymous if the author wants.
Recognition line
Set-up of this exercise will depend on the size of the group. Line
up two rows of chairs facing one another. Put one extra chair on one of the
lines. Have people sit in the chairs facing one another. Instruct each person
to spend 45 uninterrupted seconds complimenting the person sitting across from
him. When the time is up the person listening then takes 15 seconds to
summarize the compliments that were given. People rotate through the line until
they have complimented and received compliments from everyone in the group.
10-A-Day
Personally take on complimenting 10 people a day. Note the impact
this activity has on your general mood.
Your impact on others
Interview all of the people your employee works with. Collect
quotes, comments and pictures from the individuals reflecting how that person
positively impacts each person’s day. Write up the notes and present them to
your employee showing him the impact of his actions on the people he works
with.
Compliment List
Have everyone in your group write their name on a sheet of paper.
Then taking one minute each, have each person write a compliment to each person
on their sheet of paper. The take away is a list of compliments from every
person in your group.
The 5 Minute Note
Take five minutes and write a handwritten note (no email) to let a
team member, supervisor, or subordinate know the impact their efforts are
having on your day-to-day experience.
What I am proud of
Have each
employee write a list of ten things they are proud of at work. Have each person
share their top five.
