The StrategicPay Blog would like to thank repeat guest blogger Theresa Chambers for her holiday contribution to our space.  Theresa is Chief Motivation Officer for Recognition Works in Seattle, and our local "guru" on all things recognition. Remember, it's not all about the almighty dollar.  People need recognition too!

It's December and commonplace for companies to express their GIANT and sometimes perfunctory thank you to employees for their hard work throughout the year. It often comes in the form of an end-of-year recognition event or party.

The word on the street is that employees are empathetic if their company has to scale back on menu items, do a potluck instead, or even cancel the party altogether. Hopefully, you haven't been saving up your employee appreciation for this one big moment anyway, right? If you have, then Bart Simpson has an assignment for you:

I will notice out loud when someone does something well!

So go ahead — you can take away the presents and the decorations, but when it comes to genuinely appreciating your employees you cannot compromise on the quality of the message or how it's delivered. It needs to be specific, meaningful, and personal.

Here are three low-cost ways to share the gift of gratitude at any time of year:

Simple, Sincere Thanks: Get a box of holiday greeting or thank you cards and a list of employee names. Take the time to really think about how each person on your team contributed in their own unique way. What positive attributes or skills did they share? How did their work have a positive impact on you, the team, the department, or the company? How do they exemplify one or more of the company values?

Galaxy of Stars: Supplies needed: 12 inch or larger foil stars (one for each employee), clear labels, and fishing line. Have employees draw names and ask employees to think about 3 things they appreciate about that employee. They can either write or print the employee's name and the 3 qualities on the star. At the next team meeting, each person gets up and presents their star to the person they selected explaining what they appreciate about that person. Later they can hang the stars with fishing line from the ceiling for the galaxy of stars effect.

What's worth celebrating? Purchase question mark (?) candles from the grocery store. Purchase angel food cake (low fat!), pumpkin pie or some other treat to share. Light the candle and ask employees, "What's worth celebrating? What did we do well this year? What are our most important accomplishments? How did you make a positive difference?" Let them tell you what's important. Add your own accolades, tell them you are proud to be part of the team and optimistic for a successful and productive 2010.

Let us know how it works or if you have other ideas to share. Happy Holidays!

Guest blogger Theresa Chambers is Chief Motivation Officer for Recognition Works in Seattle.  You can reach her via her website, at theresa@recognitionworks.net or at 206-353-8267.  Thanks Theresa, and happy holidays!

The StrategicPay Series blog is happy to welcome back guest Blogger Theresa Chambers of Recognition Works.  See below for additional contact information.  Thanks Theresa!

While leg warmers and feathered hair may be making a comeback, let's make sure your recognition programs aren't stuck in the 80s. Whether you are creating a program from the ground up or revamping an existing one, here are some tips to bring your recognition practices into the 21st century.

Employee of the Month programs are so 80s. We've heard all the jokes, "Whose turn is it this month?" or "Let's give it to Joe, he hasn't gotten it in a while." The impetus for recognizing great work doesn't happen because you turned the calendar from August to September. It needs to be deserving, for sure, but it also needs to be based on criteria that reinforces employee behaviors aligned with company values.

No surprises. Surprise awards are more about the shock value for those watching than truly honoring the person you're trying to recognize. If you are going to receive an award, wouldn't you like to know ahead of time? Some people love the fanfare and applause, while others prefer their recognition in private. When it comes to recognition, one size does not fit all, so it's always best to ask employees how they like to be recognized.

Don't show them the money. Harvard Business School's thought leader, Rosabeth Moss Kanter, captured it well, "Compensation is a right. Recognition is a gift." While 85% of employees surveyed say they want cash awards, only 9% actually spend it on a special personal treat for themselves. Cash disappears. Awards should serve as a tangible reminder of the achievement. It can be as simple as a framed certificate with signed accolades from coworkers or a retrofitted Oscar trophy with a superhero cape renamed FRED (friendly, resourceful, enthusiastic and dedicated).

Think strategy, not program. Recognition needs to be more than once a year celebration where only a small percentage of employees are honored and everyone else watches. A strategy is ongoing and multidimensional. The most important element is the day-to-day thank-you and acknowledgment. It's about creating a culture of appreciation where it's up to everyone to "notice out loud" when someone does something right for the company.

Involve employees in designing the recognition strategy. People own what they create and want to see it succeed. Committees should represent a diagonal cross section of your organization and its unique culture. Identify Recognition Ambassadors throughout the company who serve as the go-to person for ideas and resources.

Storytelling is one of the most powerful forms of recognition managers can use. People pay attention to who gets recognized and why. An effective presentation should tell the story about what the employee did, the positive impact it had, and how it was an example of one or more of the company values. Use multiple communication vehicles to share employee achievements, including the intranet, recognition bulletin boards and the company's Facebook page to post pictures and give coworkers an opportunity to add their congratulations. This works great for remote employees.

Maximize your managers. People join a company for the pay or benefits, but it's an employee's relationship with their manager that determines whether or not they stay and how engaged they are. Research suggests that employees need to receive recognition and praise for doing great work every seven days to stay actively engaged. Thankfully, giving effective recognition is a leadership skill that can be learned. In fact, training managers on recognition skills increases the occurrence of recognition by up to 50%.

As your business goals evolve, so should your employee recognition strategy. Your core values may remain the same, but it's always a good idea to take a fresh look at your recognition practices. Here's to keeping the ZING in recogniZING!

Theresa Chambers is the Chief Motivation Officer of Recognition Works and founder of the Puget Sound Recognition Roundtable. Visit www.recognitionworks.net for more info.

The Strategic Pay Blog is pleased to welcome Becky Regan as a guest blogger to the StrategicPay Blog.  Becky is the founder and President of Regan HR, Inc. and a fellow blogger on the Compensation Cafe'. See below for more contact information.  Thanks Becky!

Would you want to work for yourself?  Let's be honest here....to be effective as a manager, you know that your employees must trust and respect you. They need to believe that you'll handle their work issues fairly and consistently, yet maintain their confidential information when they seek your help. Repeatedly, studies have shown that employee retention is directly correlated to the quality of the relationship between a manager and his/her employee. Employees frequently look for another job when this relationship doesn't exist.

Years ago, I had a boss who believed that he should treat all three of his direct reports exactly the same in terms of salary. He believed that he was being "fair" by treating all of us the same. Yet we all had different areas of responsibility, work styles, and performance levels.

Treating us all the same simply didn't work, because we were all different.  He treated us like a parent treats his kids; he didn't want to show any favoritism to anyone in particular.  Good parenting practice; lousy management style.....

When I began working for him, I made significantly less money than my peers. I almost left that job out of sheer frustration over the lack of recognition for my efforts and the discrepancy in salaries. Instead, I decided to stay and see what would happen because I trusted my boss to "go the distance" for me. Though it took a longer than expected, he did come through with a title and 33% increase in base pay for me.

I'll never forget how he told me about the big raise and VP title. He took me out to an Italian  restaurant for a fancy lunch and truly made the occasion a celebration to remember!

What kind of a manager are you? Do your employees believe in your ability as a manager? Can they depend on you for your support and fair treatment? Do you recognize their individual efforts and contributions?

Take a minute to consider what you need from your manager in order to succeed in your job? Make a list of your "top 10" requirements. Chances are, your list is very similar to the one your employees would create for you! You can use it as a self-evaluation of your managerial effectiveness to determine how you can improve as a manager before the economy begins to recover in earnest.

How can you become a better manager? By caring enough to...

•     Build a professional yet warm relationship with each of your direct reports
•     Frequently ask them how their job is going and how you can help; be available when they need you
•     Commit to holding weekly staff meetings with everyone reporting on what they're working on in a round table setting; don't cancel or postpone scheduled meetings
•     Honor your commitments to employees; follow through!
•     Stand up for them as necessary to provide support, get salary increases, supplemental training, etc.
•     Do little things, like saying "hello" at the beginning of the day ; walk around & talk with your employees
•     Keep your door open; don't sit in your office with your door closed unless in meetings
•     Find out what their individual interests are and use them creatively when recognizing each employee for exceptional performance
•     Hold your employees accountable for work you expect them to do and timelines to be met
•     Manage performance problems as they arise; manage poor performers out of the workplace
•     Hire smart
•     Ask them how they want to be treated or what outcome they expect from a conflict at work
•     COMMUNICATE, LISTEN and EMPOWER!

Now is the time to become a better manager to enhance employee engagement.  Don't wait to use sound management practices for employees when the economy finally emerges from this "repression" and your turnover increases.  Train your managers now how to effectively manage and build that critical relationship between supervisor and employee.  It's your best insurance policy to implement now to protect your company from losing staff down the road.

Don't treat all of your employees the SAME, RECOGNIZE and build upon their differences to treat each individual FAIRLY.

Becky Regan is the founder and President of Regan HR, Inc., a human resources consulting firm specializing in compensation consulting for California employers and purveyor of online HR products. A former Corporate Human Resources Director (10,000+ employees) with more than 25 years of HR work experience in many industries, her team works with private, public and non-profit clients.  Becky is passionate about designing HR programs and compensation plans that build organizations.

Flickr photo courtesy of Reclassic2

Appreciate the Employees You Have: The value of recognition escalates in a tough economy

The StrategicPay Blog is very pleased to welcome Theresa Chambers as a guest blogger. Theresa is the Chief Motivation Officer of Recognition Works, and an expert on recognition program design,development and implementation.  See below for her contact information.  Thanks for contributing Theresa!

In a challenging economic environment, the value and impact of employee recognition multiplies. While it may be financially prudent to scale back on expensive awards or events – which generally do little to increase employee engagement or productivity – let's not lose sight of what recognition is all about.

Whether your company is large or small, the truth is that the people working there want to know that what they do makes a positive difference. And they need to hear it now more than ever. A survey from the Center for Work Life Policy reported that trust and loyalty levels of workers are at an all time low. Only slightly more than half of those surveyed felt "loyal" to their company and nearly two-thirds said they felt "demotivated" at work.

Organizations need to appreciate the employees they have and acknowledge when they are being asked to step up and do more with less. Jim Harter from the Gallup Organization put it well, "Employee recognition is actually more important during difficult times than periods of prosperity. Recognition helps people to be resilient. Right now, businesses are trying to survive. And to survive you've got to have psychological resilience. We need employees who are positive despite the negative situations around them."

Companies – or more specifically, managers -- cannot afford to take employees for granted or assume people should just be thankful to have a job. In fact, company decisions resulting in layoffs could very well trigger their own solid performers to leave.  According to the Harvard Business Review, researchers found a strong relationship between layoffs and subsequent voluntary turnover. For example, layoffs targeting just 1% of the workforce preceded, on average, a 31% increase in overall turnover.

It's no accident that the companies on Fortune Magazine's 100 Best Places to Work list consistently outperform S&P 500 companies by 30-40%. Employee recognition is a critical component of their business models and they practice it.

The solution is available to everyone. A solid recognition strategy is built on a foundation of trust and respect. It involves integrating recognition into your company's culture and training managers on meaningful, low-cost ways to show appreciation for staff.  It starts at the most fundamental level: paying attention to people, making eye contact, smiling, saying "Good morning." This simple act communicates the message that "I see you. I care, and I'm glad you're here."

Appreciation starts with awareness: awareness of the things employees do well. Recognition is simply "noticing out loud."  It can take the form of a verbal comment for providing excellent service or a handwritten note to thank them for staying late to meet an important deadline.

Even though U.S. companies spend upwards of $300 billion a year on awards and incentives, 65% of employees say they don't receive recognition or praise at work. As organizations downsize their annual awards banquets, it doesn't mean less recognition for employees. It actually provides a perfect opportunity to get real about what recognition means to employees. It becomes less about the "stuff" and more about how the message is delivered. Do your employees know they make a positive difference? Do they understand how their job is connected to the bigger picture? It's that frequent, genuine "thank you" that moves the needle on employee engagement and satisfaction scores, and has a real impact on the bottom line.

We need more "employees of the moment" than "employees of the year." Take the time to pay attention, acknowledge, and appreciate what is right in your organization and the people responsible for making it that way. Now, more than ever, it may be the best business decision you ever make.


Theresa Chambers, Chief Motivation Officer at Recognition Works, changes the way organizations think about employee recognition. She can be reached at theresa@recognitionworks.net or 206.353.8267.