Have you given recognition to someone today?
“You knocked it out of the park! Great job! We couldn’t have done it without you! Good work.” How often have you heard this from a colleague or boss? Yes, it’s great to receive accolades, but how do such generalities support positive performance?
Recognition is easier than you think. Jack Zenger, international leadership development consultant, and founder of Zenger Miller and Achieve Global, offered great insight on the power of recognition. “Recognition,” he said,” costs virtually nothing to give but a little honest attention to the other person.”
Individuals who do this well:
Look for opportunities to recognize others for large and small contributions.
Describe not only what the person did that deserved recognition, but also the impact their efforts made on others or the project.
Facilitate learning by taking time to gain insight into how the individual was successful.
Use verbal recognition more often than tangible rewards.
A recent survey conducted by Psychometrics.com asked employees what their leaders could do more to improve engagement. 58% of them replied: give recognition. Further, Socialcast reported that 69% of employees reported they would work harder if they felt their efforts were better appreciated. Clearly, recognition is valued by employees. So why is it so hard to deliver effective recognition?
I think it is fundamentally an issue of not knowing how. But to move past “nice job…,” what do you say next? Below is a simple but effective framework for giving meaningful yet personal recognition:
Factual and Specific: Focus on what happened, with specifics on when it occurred or how often. Describe the quality of the effort in addition to hours it took to complete.
Impact: Then describe the impact the effort had on others. What happened because of the behavior? What difference did it make? To whom? Adding this level of details signals to the receiver that their efforts were not only noticed, but mattered.
Starts a conversation to learn more. After describing the behavior and its impact, move quickly to a discussion. Ask the person for insights and perspectives. What did they learn? Were there others involved? This allows both receiver and giver to spend time “in” the recognition and discover what could be learned or shared with others.
It might sound like this:
The presentation you gave was very effective. Several executives took notes and two followed up to say that it was concise yet gave them a lot to consider. How were you able to get all the data we reviewed into such a crisp format?
Recognition matters. Doing it well matters even more. While recognition can be extended in an email, using the guidelines above, it’s far more powerful delivered live or even via Zoom. Let the recognition stand on its own. Avoid the natural tendency to add corrective suggestions or ask for more while the mood is productive and collaborative. Make a simple investment in others and see what happens.