Employee Recognition

Traditionally Valentine's Day is reserved for those we love, but what if we spend a moment or two recognizing those we appreciate as well? Is recognizing employees for positive performance necessary? Some managers think, "The employee is paid salary and benefits. Isn't that enough?" But, if you want positive performance to occur, it must be recognized and rewarded.

It has been said, "What gets rewarded, gets repeated." We must recognize and reward positive performance only if we want it repeated. Without recognizing and rewarding the behavior we want in our company, it will disappear.

Recognizing and rewarding employee performance includes a variety of actions, such as praising or acknowledging performance, increasing the individual's responsibilities, increasing pay, and providing promotional incentives or contests. The supervisor has a large responsibility to carry it out and there is a large payoff when it is done well.

Praising performance is one of the strongest motivators for individuals. Praise comes in many forms. It can be as simple as saying, "You did a great job." Telling peers in a meeting or group how well someone has performed is very powerful.

A friend of mine who owned a construction business started calling each employee on his or her birthday to wish him or her a "Happy Birthday." When the foreman first called an employee to the phone for a call from the owner, the employee's response was, "What did I do?" Now that word of the birthday call is out, you can see employees waiting around the foreman for their call. If it doesn't come until late in the afternoon, some have been known to ask if the owner forgot. A simple, genuine gesture that recognizes a key event in the employee's life shows the company sees the employee as a person.


Written praise is even stronger than verbal praise. A handwritten note or letter to an individual recognizing performance is even more effective than verbal praise. A letter or note written by a supervisor to a top manager praising the employee can have a dramatically positive effect.

If someone makes a mistake, it tends to be noticed very quickly. If someone does well, that too should be noticed very quickly. People are looking for validation of their self-worth; and praise builds their self-esteem.

By increasing the individual's level of responsibility as they perform well, you can ensure they not only grow as an employee, but are capable of handling delegated tasks and more responsibility. If an also employee is performing well and can move to a more responsible position in the future, the manager should begin by gradually adding responsibilities. This will allow them to grow and reduce the possibility that when moving into a new position, the change will be too drastic and they will fail.

Incentive pay is one of the most effective rewards for performance. Companies that tie their bonuses and pay increases to performance, as a rule, obtain greater results and profits. To be effective, the reward needs to be tied directly to a specific performance or behavior the employee can repeat. The closer in time positive behavior is to the receipt of the reward, the greater the motivating power of the reward.