Recognition closes the cycle of excellence. Sometimes a sincere recognition on time and in front of the rest of colleagues can work miracles in the self-esteem and motivation of the employee who deserves it. Lack of recognition is a widespread epidemic in today's organizations.
There are managers who believe that by admitting the quality, goodness or originality of other people's proposals, they implicitly detract from themselves. It is actually the opposite. Those who know how to recognize the merits of their collaborators are generally promoted by them to the category of leaders, with or without recognized official command in the place, but leaders, that is, people respected and admired also by the rest of their colleagues.
The Cycle of Excellence to which Hallowell refers and which I have dealt with in two previous posts "Highlight" or how it is possible to work passionately "and" Creativity in play and at work ", closes with the recognition of work and contributions of people.
There is no doubt therefore that recognition lifts everyone's spirits. Sometimes it is difficult to do it in the proper proportion. On a certain occasion, a head of unit of the European Commission managed to "sign" an expert econometrician technician who covered one of the unit's shortcomings, giving the group the possibility of completing the range of services and knowledge it had. By physically joining the unit, he brought together all the members and publicly praised the virtues and contribution that the incorporation of that person made to the unit. He did so sincerely, perhaps vehemently and enthusiastically. It didn't take long for him to realize his mistake, as some of the people who were already part of his team felt undervalued with what they considered excessive public appreciation of the newcomer."What about me? Is my job worth nothing or what? " was the complaint of some colleagues.
The teaching of this anecdote leads us to the fact that it is good and necessary to recognize the virtues and contributions of the people in the team, however, it must be done in a balanced way, so that no one feels offended or undervalued in their own person. Hence, the risk of recognition lies in excess, imbalance or doing it at the wrong time.
On the other hand, does anyone know or have had a boss who, when faced with a job well done, innovative,… looks only at the radish leaves and, ignoring the 9 out of 10 things perfectly executed, focuses all his attention on that aspect that is improvable? That is the best way to kill the initiative and in the end people, tired of only valuing the iceberg puna and forgetting the rest, limit themselves to saying "How do you want me to do it?"
The second reflection therefore has to do with the need to start by explicitly and clearly recognizing everything that is well done and that responds to what was expected, leaving for the end the aspects of improvement, whose analysis, being necessary, it discourages anyone, if previously what is well done is not valued.
Recognition and positive scrutiny from peers works miracles in people's attitudes to your work… and it costs little! Look, she was a married clerk with children. Every day she got up very early to go to her work center, which was almost two hours by bus from her home. She was an efficient person, but shy and who went "unnoticed" in the organization. Such was her shyness that she blushed when in a pooling meeting of her unit, the person in charge of it even mentioned her name. On one occasion, the unit organized, within an improvement group, the voluntary teaching of courses that were later evaluated by the attendees.The day the unit director saw how Miren had signed up to teach an office automation course in which she was especially skilled, he realized that Miren had overcome her fears and was willing to actively participate in the process improvement collective, with their contributions, in exchange for thecollective recognition from their peers.
As for how to reward, according to Hallowell, it is better to start with the basics, dish out praise to employees instead of focusing on failures and mistakes. Then take a look at what is done well and acknowledge it verbally. One in six employees feels "unrecognized, misunderstood, devalued and generally disconnected." The next thing is to reward by giving fuel at least once in a while.
Bottom Line: For people to excel at work, their efforts must be recognized. There is no single form of recognition; It can be anything from an informal word of thanks to a bonus or a formal celebration. Most of them have little or no cost, and the resulting effects are well worth it.
