Most established companies are built
on a set of values, underlining the business’ core purpose and setting forth
principles to guide their employees in the future to sustain the organization’s
health and success.
Values are not and never
should be an after-thought. Rather, they should accurately reflect the vision
and mission on which the company was created and built, as well as the
attitudes and behaviors of its founders. If they are encouraged effectively,
values can serve as a fixed point of truth for succeeding generations of
managers and employees to hold true to the founding principles of the business.
As a means of “living its core
values” and reinforcing employee behavior that reflects those values, a former
client used to conduct an annual contest among its employees. Each year,
managers and supervisors would nominate individual employees or teams who they
felt best exemplified the meaning of the company’s five core values: “customer
focus,” “honesty,” “innovation,” “respect for people,’ and “team spirit.”
Each year, ahead of the
year-end company holiday party where the awards were announced, the company
president and the head of human resources would sit together, review the
nominees, and select the most worthy teams and individuals in time to honor
them at the annual party. Winners would receive gift cards for local shops. It
had become a well-established tradition of recognizing and rewarding the
behavior that senior leadership sought.
I remember thinking at the
time that it was a grand idea because it put the spotlight on and rewarded the
individuals and teams who were living, behaving, and acting the way the company
had expected them to operate, in a manner that perpetuated the founding
principles of the company.
I once got the opportunity to
peruse the nomination papers and was impressed with the kinds of efforts people
made, and the wonderful ideas many had offered. Most of these people went
beyond their 9-to-5 routines and extended themselves for the betterment of the
company. There were instances of individual creativity that saved the company a
lot of money and/or improved products and efficiencies, or customer services.
People do pay a lot of
attention to how employees are rewarded and recognized. How else do you explain
the plethora of entertainment and sports awards, as well as those in every
other field? People like to acknowledge superior performance in any field. So
these kinds of programs are a good idea.
Meeting Expectations?
It all seemed very inspiring and a
good way to reinforce good work. But there was something about it that troubled
me: the sense of a predictable routine of it all and the realization that there
would be winners every year.
It’s a bit like the “Employee
of the Month” plaques you see in the lobbies of many hotels and restaurants.
With a finite number of employees, it’s likely that everyone will eventually be
honored. The first few times the award is given, everyone will generally agree
that the selected winner is worthy of merit. But by the time you’re into the
fourth or fifth year of the program, with 50 to 60 out of 75 or so employees
having been honored, the award has lost all significance and meaning.
Suppose the president of my
client company had felt that none among the nominees were worthy of
recognition? Would he decide not to give any awards that year? Would he be
prepared to stand before the holiday gathering and say, “Sorry, nobody was
worthy of the ‘Core Values Honors’ this year”? Nope. It’s not going to happen –
though it does happen in some realms. Occasionally, for instance, the Nobel
Committee does not give a Nobel Prize for Literature or the Nobel Peace Prize –
justifiably.
But skipping a year in what
had become company traditions like this “Core Values Honors” would have had a
negative impact. So it continues year after year and inevitably begins to feel
a bit tired and predictable.
Not to discourage this very
appropriate recognition of outstanding service on the part of hard working
employees, but organizations should be nimble and creative in how they do so.
They should break out of the cookie-cutter expectations of an annual or monthly
prize and be more spontaneous – and a bit unpredictable. Rewards and
recognition are most meaningful when they occur randomly.
There’s nothing wrong with
flagging someone’s outstanding work one day, and then highlighting someone
else’s three days later. Nor is there anything wrong with not recognizing
anyone for a long stretch of several months, if no one merits the recognition.
Taking that approach will have greater impact and meaning to people.
The important thing is to be
paying attention to what the employees are doing, ready to provide constructive
criticism, to help people be better at their jobs. And, at the same time, be
ready to say “thank you” or give a pat on the back when someone does a good
job. And give a significant reward and/or recognition when they go above and
beyond, especially when that effort embodies the values on which the
organization was founded.
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