Today, I am at the end of my semester. Kinda freaking out because I have so much to do. The amazing thing is that despite my crappy school-work ethic this semester, I am still getting A's, in both classes. I really like A's. They make me happy.

Staff engagement and recognition is the same way. Staff crave hearing that they have done well, that they are on target, that they did the best. It is something that I am not very good at doing. Staff recognition is hard for me to remember to do. My boss doesn't do it very often which isn't the example I need. I figure, if someone is doing their job, then they are doing their job. Great. What do I need to do, praise them for doing what they are supposed to do? It turns out the answer is yes. 

People crave attention, recognition, and praise. They want to know how they are doing, what they are doing, they even want to know what they can do better. All these things represent that a supervisor is paying attention to them and their work. They want frequent and consistent feedback. They also want intermittent reinforcers that say, "hey, I'm paying attention."   

This week I did a few things that recognized my staff, besides the regular "thank you." I bought cupcakes for the managers and gave a cupcake to every manager that was at the office at 5pm on a Thursday, when the other supervisor was on vacation. I also bought one staff their favorite chips and attached a note saying, "thank you for all you do to make our workplace a loving a caring place." I made sure each thing was very specific and that I could say it clearly. I also took the time to meet up with a staff who was having a particularly difficult time with his client, just to check in and see how he was doing.

I find saying, "good job, Team." Or "thanks for you hard work." does not make the impact as something very specific. Things like "I really like the way you interacted with that person," "Thank you for going above and beyond to turn in the paperwork on time," "I really appreciate that you talked to your co-worker in a respectful tone." 

The recognition item doesn't have to be something expensive, it can be very small or a thank you note. But being specific makes a big difference in how the staff feel. Keep a stash of stuff on hand, extra pens, sticky notes, candy, little wrist bands, dollar store items, thank you notes, etc. are all things that can be a small token of recognition. Sometimes local restaurants have really good coupons, and one can hand those out as a recognition for doing well.

You may worry about the other staff being disappointed that they didn't receive recognition but going through your list of staff and have a rotating "recognition list" can help avoid accidentally playing favorites. If you agree to recognize three people a week, mark off the date in which you recognized a certain staff, then the following week make sure that you recognize new people until your list of staff is done then start over.  This eliminates leaving people out. 

This brings us to the last point, what about the staff person you hate.  There isn't possibly anything they do well, is there? You have to find SOMETHING they do well.  Many experts say that we only compliment the top 10% of high performers. We also reprimand the lowest 10% of performers. It is crucial to recognize all staff, even if we don't like them or don't think they are performing well.  This encouragement can increase performance. Everyone does something well, it may take some time to think of something, but there is something. 

Recognize, encourage, and praise. Its like getting A's at work.