Make Their Day!: Employee Recognition That Works (BK Business) - Softcover

Ventrice, Cindy

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1576756017 ISBN 13: 9781576756010

Verlag: Berrett-Koehler Publishers, 2009

Inhaltsangabe

How is it that companies spend billions on recognition programs, yet most employees feel unrecognized? Here Cindy Ventrice zeroes in on what truly makes employees feel valued and lays out proven recognition tactics that will provide a genuine, lasting boost for your business. Ventrice demonstrates that integrating the intangible rewards people crave—praise, thanks, opportunity, and respect—into the daily routine is far more effective than typical recognition awards, events, perks, and privileges, and she shows exactly how to do it. Follow her advice and you’ll save money while obtaining better results than ever before.

This second edition features new examples from innovative companies like Best Buy, Cisco Systems and Google, as well as detailing how to provide recognition in increasingly virtual workplaces, account for cultural differences in reward preferences, and ensure that rewards are perceived as fair and equitable.

Über diesen Titel

Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Cindy Ventrice is president of Potential Unlimited Seminars, a consulting company that helps improve performance by improving work relationships. Her clients include Wells Fargo, Cisco Systems, MIT, Stanford University, State Farm Insurance, and Bell Canada.

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Real Results





A new sales manager is given the second-lowest-performing region. He believes that people who feel valued will outperform others and so he decides to make recognition a priority. His first quarter as manager, his team beats its quota. The second quarter they do it again, and at the end of the third quarter . . . well, at the end of the third quarter they are the second-highest-performing region!



They went from second-lowest-performing
to second-highest in nine months.



It is a simple fact: people who feel valued perform at a much higher level. Think about a great manager you’ve had, one who made you feel valued. What would you have done to make him or her look good? I know the answer. A lot!

An executive leaves one company for another. With him, he takes his “good, solid performers.” The new company is built on a culture of recognition. Once he adapts to their style, he says, “My good, solid performers became stars.”

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His good, solid performers became stars.



Wouldn’t you like to have a few more stars on your team? With a little time and effort to offer meaningful recognition, you will see significant results.

Results that you can see—that is what this book is about. Make Their Day! will introduce you to recognition that works—recognition that is meaningful, memorable, and boosts morale, productivity, and profits. As you read this book, you will learn simple, effective techniques that you can begin to implement today.




Making Recognition a Priority

I know you’re busy. You have to make sure the work gets done. You may even be dealing with hiring freezes, layoffs, mergers and acquisitions, strikes, budget cuts, rising expenses, product defects, missed deadlines, or high turnover among in-demand workers. There’s a good chance that, in addition to your managerial duties, you are also an individual contributor. In terms of priorities, if you’re like many managers, supervisors, and team leaders, recognition has come dead last. While this may be understandable, it is a big mistake. Managing is easier, not harder, when you make recognition a priority.




Don’t Put Recognition on Your To-Do List

After reading the heading for this section, you’re probably thinking, “What do you mean, don’t put recognition on your to-do list? If it’s not on my to-do list, how can recognition be a priority? Isn’t that a contradiction?” No, it isn’t. I’ve seen many managers and supervisors who decided to make recognition a priority. They had the best intentions when they put “recognize employees” on to their to-do lists, and then, as the weeks progressed and pressing matters demanded their attention, they slowly moved recognition farther and farther down the list. Even though their intentions were good, recognition never happened.

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You have enough to do already! If you add recognition to your oversized to-do list, there is a good chance that you won’t get to it. When you do manage to get to it, you’re likely to do it once, check it off, and then forget about it. This isn’t the kind of recognition that works.




Make Recognition the Header on Your To-Do List

Recognition isn’t something you can do and then check off your list. You need to think of recognition a little differently. Instead of adding recognition to your to-do list, make it the header. Find ways to make recognition part of every employee interaction. When you delegate, add a little praise of past accomplishments. When you receive project updates, thank employees for their promptness, thoroughness, or accuracy. When you hold a team meeting to talk about a new challenge, express confidence in the group’s ability to meet that challenge. As you complete each item on your to-do list, think about how you can incorporate recognition into it.




Make Your Job Easier!



Make recognition the header on your list, and you will find your job gets easier. There are hundreds of small things you can do to provide the recognition your employees crave without putting a greater strain on your time, things that positively affect the work environment because they provide the right kind of recognition. With the right recognition, you will find employees more willing to tackle problems on their own instead of bringing them to you to solve. With the right recognition, employees will show more concern about quality and reputation. With the right recognition, employees will be more willing to pitch in when things get difficult. Morale will go up. Absenteeism will go down. And your job will get easier.

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Recognition that works does this: it energizes and revitalizes the workplace. It creates a loyal, motivated, and productive workforce. And a loyal, motivated, and productive workforce makes your job as a manager easier.




Recognition That Works, Works!

Recognition that works, works—even in the most challenging situations. Nothing demonstrates this quite as well as the story of Remedy Support Services that was featured in the first edition of this book.

In August 2001, Peregrine Systems purchased competitor Remedy Corporation. While managers at Remedy were hopeful that the purchase would help them expand their operations and increase market share, they still faced typical merger issues: concerns about possible layoffs, culture changes, product direction, and the priorities of the parent company—challenges that many managers are very familiar with. During the next eight months, Peregrine Systems endured the same financial setbacks as most of the technology industry and suffered through the seemingly inevitable layoffs.

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This was only the beginning of the challenges that Remedy faced as part of Peregrine Systems. Peregrine announced it had misstated revenue during the past two years, and the CEO and CFO resigned.1 Remedy was restructured, and 5 percent of the workforce was laid off. Peregrine stock continued a steady decline; class action stockholder lawsuits accumulated; and by the time Remedy had been part of Peregrine Systems for ten months, Peregrine stock had been delisted from NASDAQ.2 Just over twelve months after it was acquired by Peregrine Systems, Remedy was sold to BMC Software.

Talk about a whirlwind of turmoil and change! Given the circumstances, it’s easy to imagine employee morale would be at an all-time low. How could managers possibly keep employees productive under these conditions? Yet during the tumultuous tenmonth period from purchase to delisting, Remedy Support Service maintained employee morale and improved customer satisfaction ratings while continuing to grow its revenue stream!3

Mike Little, then VP of Worldwide Professional Services and Support, said the company survived and even thrived because the managerial staff set big goals, listened to employees, and showed their appreciation. As you will discover as you read this book, these three things are keys to offering meaningful and memorable recognition.




Visible Signs of Recognition



To bring employees through this crisis, Remedy Support Services used many forms of recognition. Pirate ships constructed by each of Remedy’s support groups offered a reminder of a friendly competition to be the best support team. Some managers gave out stickers for perfect customer surveys, and employees displayed the stickers outside their cubicles. One employee was proud of a toy SUV his manager had presented him in recognition of his good work. Managers worked hard to find fun and creative ways to improve performance and show...

Details zur Ausgabe

• Verlag: Berrett-Koehler Publishers
• Erscheinungsdatum: 2009
• Sprache: Englisch
• ISBN 10: 1576756017
• ISBN 13: 9781576756010
• Einband: Taschenbuch
• Anzahl der Seiten: 240
• Kontakt zum Hersteller: EUComply OÜ; hello@eucompliancepartner.com; ; Pärnu mnt 139b-14; Tallinn; 11317; Estland