JANUARY 27

“It is not an accident that the best places to work are also the places that make the most money.”

—Gordon Bethune, chairman, Continental Airlines

SHARING THE WEALTH

At this airline, besides company parties, profit sharing and employee recognition, Continental has a program where employees with perfect attendance are entered in a raffle to win a new Ford Explorer.

(Talk about driving performance forward!)

JANUARY 28

Sometimes the best reward is time with the boss.

FACE TIME WITH THE BIG CHEESE

For many employees , the best reward is knowing their actions are being noticed—by you and by others in senior positions .

Consider rewarding a great employee by taking her along on your next meeting with senior management. Speak about the projects the employee is working on and her contributions to your team’s success.

You’ll not only garner loyalty from your employee but you’ll be seen as a nurturing team player by your bosses.

JANUARY 29

A tune-up could make your employee-recognition program purr.

(Not to mention your employees .)

VROOM! VROOM!

Is it time to rework your employee recognition system? Then you’ll appreciate this tool.

In 1964, researcher Victor Vroom proposed that employees are motivated to work toward rewards that (1) they want and (2) they believe they have a realistic chance of obtaining. Based on this “Expectancy Theory,” Vroom suggested that when designing reward systems leaders should:

Make a clear connection between performance and outcome.
Develop flexible reward systems that provide a variety of potentially attractive outcomes .
Determine what rewards the employee values.
Ensure that employees receive appropriate training and have the ability to perform the job successfully.

Take a few moments to evaluate how well your current recognition program meets these criteria. A few critical adjustments could have employee performance going from zero to incredible in no time at all.

JANUARY 30

Play hooky from work … together.

TAKE IN A SHOW

As a team reward, take everyone to an inspirational movie (anything with Denzel might do) on a Friday afternoon and then send them home early. Throw in some popcorn and licorice.

Playing hooky is always easier when the boss is along for the ride.

JANUARY 31

“Attention, employers : Make sure your employees feel valued. Otherwise, they could bolt for other jobs as soon as the economy starts to improve.”

—Jane Kim, Wall Street Journal

DON’T TAKE THEM FOR GRANTED

The news is less than earth-shaking, we know: how you treat employees during a down economy seriously impacts how they will treat your company when it rebounds.

Sure, it’s not surprising, but it is something to think about, given the recent revelation by the Wall Street Journal that 40 percent of workers have strong negative feelings about their jobs.

Plan for the future today by reenergizing your employee-recognition program. You’ll be glad you did.

Chapter 2: February

FEBRUARY 01

Point employee efforts in the right direction.

REINFORCE THE CREDO

Does your organization have a formal credo, vision or values statement? Do all your employees know what that statement is and what it means to your department? If they don’t, talk about the statement in your next recognition celebration .

For example, “I wanted to gather to recognize Julie today. One of the values we really believe around here is teamwork. And nobody epitomizes that better than Julie. Just last month, I was complaining about not being able to get the information we needed from accounting. So Julie set up weekly meetings with our contact over there. I know I speak for all of us when I say things are vastly improved now, due to Julie’s teamwork.”

Recognition ceremonies are communication opportunities, perfect times to reinforce what is most important to you and your organization.

Buy on amazon.com >>

Gostick A., Elton Ch.

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