The 9 principles of recognition

“ Why make an effort when my manager doesn’t recognize my work?»

This is surely the question asked by the majority of your high-potential employees who are not performing that well. It’s not a lack of experience or a lack of skills. it is a lack of meaning, or even a loss of meaning linked to their use. Your job. Do you have power over this loss of meaning? Certainly.

We tend to punish behaviors and non-performance, but what about recognition when an employee meets or exceeds expectations? Yes, your employees are paid to serve you, but the world of work is changing and money is no longer enough. What really motivates employees to perform is personalized, thoughtful and authentic recognition for a job well done.

The positive effects are numerous: climate of trust, employee commitment and mobilization, civilized behavior, organizational performance, and so on. It’s simple, if you recognize the work of your employees, you will therefore increase the competitiveness of your company. You knew it ? Do you ?

Here are some principles to get your recognition process off to a good start:

1. Observe and learn about the strengths of your employees and their successes;
2. Link recognition directly to performance, there must be a cause and effect relationship;
3. Take the time to recognize the work of your employees every week to strengthen the bond of trust;
4. Be specific about the event you want to reward in order to reinforce the desired behavior and performance;
5. Personalize your intervention so that it has important meaning;
6. Be sincere and show that it makes you happy;
7. Acknowledge quickly after the event to provide positive reinforcement;
8. Share your employees’ successes with the rest of the team for reference purposes;
9. Get feedback from different sources so you don’t miss anything.

Recognition can be offered in several forms, it is up to you to choose what suits you. Use creativity! Whether in writing via a virtual card, simple gestures such as an invitation to have coffee, or even positive attention by recognizing the work in front of senior management, the important thing is to please the employee. Why not ask him what would make him happy? Sometimes a nice surprise is very meaningful too. He will be grateful to you in return.