Why Most Employee Recognition-Programs Make The Majority Feel Left Out?

Last weekend we were dining with friends and celebrating one of our friend’s birthday that happened to be on Monday and it shook me when I heard her say “the last thing I want to see on my desk this Monday morning is a sticky note from my boss with a Happy Birthday message; I mean this is my birthday and I can’t imagine even thinking about her”. She has a terrible boss and she is seriously thinking of quitting soon. Very few managers are capable of making employees appreciated. The most important thing is to be lovable before projecting any feelings on employees. If employees don’t love their boss they will gradually hate everything about work and reject everything coming from their boss. Moreover, they will consider their boss’s appreciation as fake and as inauthentic as it can be. What is worst is that those employers develop the illusion of transparency tricking themselves into believing that their employees are meant to know how their bosses appreciate them.

Managers should not wait for the right occasion to appreciate an employee. There is no right moment! Every moment is the right moment to make them know that you are appreciating the good work they are doing and most importantly you are appreciating them for accepting to review, redo, or improve the work they are doing. Employees need to know when they receive feedback and when they receive advice. They both are very important for their recognition and development. When they are doing good they’re great, and when they are not doing good and they don’t know what they are doing or they are doing things for the first time, it means they are improving. Many managers fear sending mixed messages, they just don’t know how to do it. When you can’t express to your employee your appreciation make an announcement in front of everybody in the practice, make sure you are not making everybody else look bad, and let this employee be appreciated by other employees.

If you only appreciate your best employees with great results you will certainly make other employees feel left out. However, if you also appreciate others by giving them the advice to improve their outcomes you will enforce the team spirit, make each employee inspired by others’ performance, increase performance, and work engagement.

Recognizing your employee’s efforts is great, however, sometimes giving them the advice to improve can be the best recognition they will ever need. Remember “happy birthday notes” are great appreciation methods but be sure that it is authentic, sincere, and that your employee receives them that way too.