By Tom Davidson
Today’s blog is about how to give more recognition, even when you don’t have a large budget for raises, opportunities to enrich a person’s job, or promotions to spread around.
Just as the environment has a changing climate, so does your work team. You influence the small microclimate that exists in every working group, and this can be very different from the larger organization’s climate or those of other teams around you.
It’s important for every new (and experienced manager) to know what their climate is and what to do about changing it. While you might not be able to affect global warming as much as you’d like, you can affect the climate of your work group by giving them a little A.I.R.
– “A” is for Appreciate inquiry – Asking individuals and the team about what is going well, not just what’s broken.
– “I” is for showing Interest in each individual – Constantly showing that you care about your people and what’s important to each individual.
– “R” is for Recognition – Showing that you appreciate the time, talent and effort of each person.
“R” is for Recognition
Today’s blog is about how to give more recognition, even when you don’t have a large budget for raises, opportunities to enrich a person’s job, or promotions to spread around.
In fact, instead of a long, hard-to-remember list of things to do, I’ll give you just one: say, “Thank you, because….” Here’s what I mean:
– Thank you for the work you did on project x, because you saved us all time and allowed us to get back to other jobs faster than we might have.
– Thank you for asking about that, because it would probably been overlooked and other people were clearly wondering the same thing.
– Thank you for following up with that customer, because it’s just that kind of extra effort that keeps customers happy and coming back.
Without the “because,” the “thank you” is easily overlooked or dismissed as mechanical or perfunctory (i.e., “thanks,” “good job,” “great work”). With the “because,” your thank you is given full meaning, and your recognition makes a difference. This recognition costs nothing but can mean everything to the recipient.
Not only is “thank you and because” the cheapest and easiest way to recognize people for their work individually, but the model is just as helpful when used in front of groups and in writing.
What are some other no-cost ways of recognizing people for their work?