July 17, 2025 • 28 mins
Everyone loves to receive recognition. Then why is it so rare? Do you let the day-to-day grind get in the way? Maybe you're so used to having the same people around you that you take them for granted? Whatever the case, you need to change. If you want to lead at the highest levels, providing recognition isn't just something you need to do, it's needs to help define who you are. On this week's episode of the Leadership Lifestyle Podcast, we'll talk about some bad ways to provide recognition, but more importantly, give you 5 specific ways to create a culture of recognition on your team!!!
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Episode Transcript
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(00:00):
Everybody loves getting recognition. So
why don't we ever do it? Like, what
is the big deal
behind giving
recognition? I mean, keeping your team,
at all is hard, keeping your team engaged
and motivated is even harder, and all the
data tells us that providing meaningful employee recognition
is vital to accomplish this So why?
(00:20):
Why do so many of us not just
managers or leaders, but just all of us.
Why do we feel to provide recognition to
others. More importantly, how does it affect us
and what when we
don't receive
recognition? You know how you feel about it?
You feel like nobody appreciates you. Nobody sees
you, but then we don't give it. And
this is especially true for Managers because there's,
(00:42):
like this tough love mentality, like, manager to
manager or executive to executive, but we're all
human beings will all function exactly in the
same way.
Recognition is good for everyone. And 91 and
of Hr professionals agree that good recognition programs
will increase your team's likelihood to stay in
your organization. By the way, the most
(01:02):
successful leaders and Are those that regularly provide
recognition? Like, if you wanted to just really
amplify your leadership? You would be doing that
kind of thing, So this is really more
about
how you can be a better leader and
really create that culture environment that you've been
dreaming to work at, and you don't have
to wait for somebody above you to tell
(01:22):
you or some kind of corporate mandate, you
can just do it. So we're gonna go
through a lot of different things in in
recognition
bad ways to do it horrible approaches, but
more importantly, at the end of it, gonna
give you 5 ways to provide your team
with meaningful rep recognition that makes him feel
valued,
and here's the good news. It's very simple
to do and it really doesn't take much
(01:44):
time at all. If you make this as
part of your leadership style coming up next.
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So we hope to make you a better
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(02:04):
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can grow together things as better leader.
Welcome back to
Lifestyle Podcast. Hope you had a great week.
And this topic, it it just kills me
(02:26):
because it's just 1 of those things that
almost your entire team or or companies or
people across the globe will tell you
this sore lacking, but at the same time,
everybody in charge, everybody that is a thought
leader your company will tell you that is
is stuff that's just gotta happen.
And and so
first of all, let's talk about why this
(02:46):
even matters.
You know, if you think about, well, people
they're giving a directive. They're giving a paycheck,
and they could just do whatever they're gonna
do, but why does this even matter that
much. More than just the... Oh, it makes
people just feel good.
But when you wanna talk about really enhancing
employee engagement
and recognize the employees for their contributions and
(03:07):
achievements,
it significantly boost how they engage at work.
You know, in past podcasts, I've talking about
winning. And I've talked to you about if
people don't see the connection of their behaviors
to winning to what it means to win
for them,
then they're not gonna keep repeating those behaviors,
and this is what this does
(03:27):
is when you're really looking at... It's not
just about a ra meeting, but when you're
looking at,
engaging of employee behaviors and letting them understand
that what they're do... What they do matters
and it's all connected
in, this heightened engagement leads a way better
performance, increase productivity
and really a stronger sense of belonging with,
(03:48):
everybody on a team because they start to
understand why they matter.
The next thing is improved retention rates. This
is another biggie of keeping the team together,
and when you talk about regular and meaningful
recognition, and how it contributes to higher employee
satisfaction.
Well, yeah. I mean, everybody would say, well,
of course it does. But
(04:09):
again, why why do we hold back and
we don't do it. And when we make
them feel valued and depreciate, they're less likely
to go somewhere else
even for more money when you got the
right set of environment. Now it doesn't meet
that you can just say things to make
them feel good about themselves, they're gonna they're
gonna sense that if it's not true. But
when you do this on a regular basis
(04:31):
it really reduces turnover costs
for the organization and helps us maintain a
stable experience in the workforce,
really gets your culture where needs to be.
And speaking number 3, talking about the positive
work culture
where, you know, recognition creates that. In other
words, the behaviors that are repeated needs
what is what builds your identity as a
(04:52):
culture And you... So in now, you could
say whatever your culture is, but when you
don't have a culture of recognition, that it's
part of your creed,
then you don't really have a great workplace
culture. But what is so great about this
is because when you think about
the culture itself in
in the power,
when you do have to correct someone. When
(05:14):
you do have to change some things,
but you have the steady diet
of
recognition and positive reinforcement and and behavior recognition
that really adds more weight.
When you have to quote unquote negative. You
have to say something that you don't wanna
talk about, and they don't wanna hear about,
but it has to happen whether maybe it's
lacking in sales or some behaviors not where
(05:35):
it should be or whatever it is.
When you have a huge culture of recognition,
it's that
gives you more weight to do corrective actions.
And that's why it's so huge. So that's
that's 3 big reasons why
But what does the data really tell us?
When you think about
employee
(05:55):
recognition programs?
This survey by the achieve found that respondents
mentioned
interesting work
who was 74 percent of what they enjoyed
the most, but 69
percent
talked about rewards talked about
how they're recognized as top reasons they would
wanna stay their current employers.
(06:15):
And this increases productivity by 31 percent when
employees are happy when they're engaged when they
know
they matter.
That's what they want to to be involved
in and resulting
in job
improvement and job performance,
achieving business value,
when you start thinking about well, where are
we going? What are we trying to do,
(06:37):
you really want to get people focused on...
You can't just have a meeting say, hey,
guys. We gotta be better.
Or we gotta hit these numbers.
You know, you really have to
really
peel back the onion layers and get to
the behavior part, and then recognize and reinforce
the behaviors you need
by giving them their recognition they need. And
(06:58):
a recent report on employee recognition stats found
that 92 percent of workers are more likely
to repeat a specific action after receiving recognition
for it. I mean, think about it as
a kid growing up, that's all you ever
heard when you did something right, when you
made your bed when you walked when you...
Whatever it was.
(07:19):
And how did we lose as as adults?
It just... Things just kinda fell off the
plate and we get on this hampshire wheel
and all of that and we just kinda
forget
to be thankful what we have. And more
than 40 percent of employed Americans feel if
they were recognized more often, they would probably
put more energy into their work. Yet,
(07:39):
a survey
by authentic recognition found 2 percent
received recognition daily, 11 percent weekly, 20 percent
quarterly,
17 percent annually,
and 29
received no recognition of any kind. And that
is pretty sad when you think about how
little that goes. But the more you're around
(08:02):
people... And and it kinda of play devil's
advocate
The more you're around the same kind of
people. The more you just get used to
being in them around. Right? And you you
you know who they are and, oh, that's
just bill. He just access. This way or
that's Sarah G x that way.
That's kinda how you you get in this
in this hampshire wheel thing with your people,
not just to work this and you kinda
(08:23):
overlook that. But before you go jump on
that recognition train,
here's some things you shouldn't do.
So
generic
recognition, recognizing employees in a way
that makes... It just feels in personal or
generic. In other words, they don't even understand
why
you're you're you're doing it. You everyone's
(08:44):
getting the same kind of thank card for
no matter what or or the same level
you know, you may have... You might have
accomplished something a lot larger,
and
it's the same recognition for both or you
know, I had a... A relative an over
relative that would send birthday cards, but a
lot of times, the cards wouldn't be for
birthday to be for some other holiday, and
(09:04):
they'd actually draw a line through it in
hand right. Happy birthday. Does something like that.
Sounds crazy I know. But when you're just
handing it out because I, you know, Corporate
told me I had to thank people and
use just hand stuff out. Doesn't carry much.
Weight.
Another thing is public
recognition for introverts. And this is so key.
You gotta know your people. Some people
it it sounds crazy to a lot of
(09:26):
people to
if I recognize somebody in public, they freak
out. But but there's people that are like
that, and they don't want the spotlight and
they're very happy with you just doing that.
So what you wanna do is really connect
with your team and and just point blank
ask him. Hey. How do you like your
recognition. What what you comfortable with and and
(09:46):
get what what they wanna do? Because it
sounds odd, but you can have, like, a
star performer in the in as far as
like, on the execution side,
with an introvert, you start recognizing them publicly.
They'll actually stop performing, so you'll stop recognizing
in front of people. Sounds crazy, but it
happens.
Competitive
recognition systems.
So when you're basically pitting 1 employee against
(10:08):
another, we had this, not that long ago,
about 2 3 years ago,
had a
executive kinda... Because they thought, well, you know,
if we do this,
everybody up their game because they can see
where other people score. And they wanna do
better, but it actually back... And I knew
it was gonna backfire and sure enough it
did.
Because here's the thing.
(10:29):
They were judged
on the same 10 pieces of criteria. Right?
So in my mind, it's like the goal
was to get everybody together at the highest
score, not competing against each other. And when
this executive came by, saw my score board
Says well, wait a minute. Why is everybody
at the top of the podium? I said
well, there's 10 metrics,
and
8 of them achieved the 10. So 8
(10:50):
of them get to be up there? And
he was like, no You got accept that
somehow. I'm like, but I... If I tell
them upfront, there's 10 specific things they gotta
do, I can't change that later just because
so I can break be mandated to have
a 1 through 10. It it just backfired.
It was pretty bad.
Delayed recognition. Imagine doing something in quarter 1,
And in quarter 3, somebody goes, oh, man.
(11:11):
That client you closed was amazing. And so
much has happened in between. It it just
makes no sense though.
Being timely, just like smart goals,
being timely
with the recognition, so it connects
And and the sooner you give recognition for
a behavior, the sooner gets repeated. So as
a leader, you don't wanna wait on that,
you want to be able to recognize that.
(11:32):
And that could be a simple as a
5 to 10 second
conversation literally.
You know, you hear somebody
talking to a client on the phone, and
when they hang up, you just go by.
I heard at least your end of it
and what you said, and it was amazing.
Keep doing that.
That's it. It's so simple to do
and then monetary rewards as the only form
(11:54):
of recognition. So this one's kinda kinda dicey
because a lot of people are, yeah, Of
course, I want more money, but
then people start changing behaviors only for that.
And the problem is
you typically will get somebody who be really
good at it and most of your team
won't.
And what'll will happen is
a lot of things will fall off the
(12:14):
plate, and the other problem is you kinda
make... And I know I get this business
earned in business for profit. And people wanna
be paid well. But if you make everything
about the dollar, then that'll be the only
thing that matters, and you will treat clients
differently, you will treat each other differently. I...
Promise you and that is not a great
place to be. So here's some
(12:34):
ideas that are even
worse,
These will absolutely kill your team
the ability to connect with your team and
have any level of trust with them whatsoever
we'll all be blown out of the water.
It's an article from Forbes.
So
there's there's about 6 different things. So the
manager takes credit.
Absolutely cringe. In other words, somebody did something
(12:56):
amazing
but
it was because of
how you guided them. And as a leader
you have to step back away from that.
And say, you know, when your person is
out there doing what they're doing, you're seller...
Yeah, I get it. Maybe you train them.
Maybe you mentor them and all that. But
they're out there winning. That's the goal is
(13:17):
to make other effective people
and not sit here and say that. Because
what happens is after a while when there's
a lot of that, then people start saying,
wow, This team really got together. Who's leading
this team?
And that's where you as a leader start
getting your recognition. So don't take the credit
for what other people do.
(13:37):
Recognition is a mystery.
You know, when many people, you know, focus
in focus groups reported receiving mysterious packages on
their desk or in their mailbox.
In other words, it's kinda like,
a knee jerk, automatic. Here's your tri kit,
desk thanks,
and nobody knows why. So imagine that, like,
you can't connect
(13:59):
what the behavior was
to what actually happened.
So it's almost like saying,
you know, hey, Bobby Sue,
great job. We really like you.
And it feels good in the moment for
a second but then you're like, well, what
it what does that mean? What did I
do?
I don't understand. And you just going on
(14:20):
about your way. It will sound like a
used car salesman.
Number 4,
quotas, quotas, quotas. If if that's all we
were doing,
was
a recognition quota.
Things kinda fall apart a little bit because
the problem with that is
you will do just enough to get to
your quota instead of really really pushing your
(14:43):
team or really discovering something
about yourself or whatever,
Again, when it's just total numbers versus behavior,
it's amazing how many things behind the scenes
change.
Including people's integrity a lot of the times.
So that's really... It sounds good on the
surface. Oh, we got a numbers goal. Let's
go get it,
(15:03):
I I was just recently talking to somebody
whose company,
you know, they have some bonus structures based
on goals,
and they didn't hit their goal.
But their goal was so extreme.
Their company was wildly profitable for the year,
and it was better than the previous year
before. So you think, okay. Well, we actually,
like, put money in the bank, shouldn't we
(15:25):
be paying higher bonuses like now,
we didn't hit a goal. So we're gonna
base it off of that, which there's so
many things can influence a goal that you
can't even control. So what do you think
that makes all those people feel like when
they know for a fact,
the company made more money because of what
they did
even though they didn't hit the goal, but
now they're actually gonna pay them AAA lower
(15:46):
bonus than the previous year, when they didn't
even do so well.
Because of some arbitrary grow goal. That's what
I'm saying, you know, and you you just
make it monetary
or it's quotas quotas quotas,
you really run into that problem, and that's
a classic example of that. Number 3, the
timing is bad. 1 of the biggest complaints
employees have...
Being
(16:07):
about recognition is it being so late,
extremely late. Like, in this case, after 13
years of employment, they received their 5 and
10 year achievement award at the same time,
Oh, my god. Could you... I, I didn't
know how as a manager or a leader,
you give you give that with a straight
(16:28):
face.
That
I don't even understand that 1. But these
things are out there. It wouldn't be in
this article if it didn't happen.
Number 2, they don't know their audience
So the examples I've heard on this daily
mistake can be found funny at first,
but they're not. When a person who hates
coffee,
gets gift cards to a copy chain
(16:49):
or remote remote worker receives a gift card
to a store that doesn't exist in their
area
The message sent by the manager is not,
I appreciate you, but instead it's... I don't
have the time to get to know you.
I mean, that is really, really
a big 1. When you're talking about, what
do we give people?
(17:09):
You really have to, again, connect with your
audience as far as
understanding how they like to get their recognition.
What some of their favorite things are, do
they like it in private Do they like
it in public, like, you know, you have
to understand this stuff?
And knowing what your audience is is so
crucial and not giving them things they hate.
And especially if somebody has been very vocal
(17:30):
about what they don't like. You know, or
they're a a vegan diet person
and you give them gift cards to Mcdonald's,
You know, that kind of thing.
Number 1, it's all a song and dance.
The number 1 complaint, in focus groups around
the world about recognition is that it's just
not sincere
that nobody wants to receive an obligatory
(17:51):
a recognition gesture,
they they actually went... They wanna be appreciated.
You you know what it feels like, when
you get
recognition,
and imagine if you have to give it,
but I mean, if if it's just so
fake,
people, you know, they they feel like they're
being patron patronizing for their for another their
(18:11):
effort,
and their attitude, and their commitment drops like
a rock. And and it's easy. It is
so easy for people to sense that kind
of stuff.
So let's get under the good stuff, The
thing I promise you at the beginning of
this. So I talked about, we're gonna learn
5 great ways to provide recognition to your
team. And if you really want to come
(18:33):
alive as a respected and trusted leader,
making
recognition the right way.
You gotta make it into how you lead
your team,
not just something you add to your list
of things to do. I talk about the
same thing when it comes to company's strategy,
and it's all behavior based.
(18:53):
When you think about
how you interact people day in a day
out, rather than, oh, you know, we have
our scheduled recognition meeting 4PM, Thursday. It can't
be like that.
It's gotta be something that is just part
of who you are and how you operate.
And it... Because this is where you're really
gonna grow as a leader where you... You
(19:15):
gotta remember that every
interaction
with your team is either building or breaking
trust, every single 1 of them, no matter
how minor it is, You might not think
it's a big deal, but that's how that
works
that that they get to really know who
you are, know when you're real and when
you're not real. So
let's get into 5 ways to do it.
(19:37):
So
personalized
acknowledgement,
tailoring your recognition to the individual,
there preferences,
achievements and personality. So you're really recognizing them
or really even their behavior.
Because that's what you really wanna get after.
When you think about when you have to
have those hard talks of people, you never
(19:57):
wanna say,
you know, hey, Joe.
I I don't like you. Now it seems
kinda silly that you would say that in
a meeting, although some people might.
But what you're really saying is, hey, this
behavior can't work here.
That's what you're after. Like, you don't wanna
attack the person.
And it's this recognition kinda works the same
way in reverse. So, like, for example, like
(20:19):
I said before, if I say, hey, bob
obviously, we really like you.
Okay. Well, that's great, but it doesn't really
ring true to anything particular. So when you
really get it down to their achievements and
their personality,
this is where it really takes hold, like,
hey, I'm being seen.
You know, we talking about recognition being recognized.
(20:40):
Like, they see me.
They get me. They know what I'm I'm
doing and and what I'm capable of, and
that's where you start... You're gonna start getting
some repeated behaviors that you want.
By getting it personalized
to show that you've actually paid attention to
them as individuals,
making the recognition more impactful.
(21:00):
Number 2,
peer to peer recognition. I have done this
several times, and this is great. Now understand
when you talk about peer to peer, That
means you're actually asking your team to recognize
each other.
You cannot
do this in place of you as the
leader
recognizing people. So please don't In other words,
don't pawn off recognition or delegated,
(21:22):
but this is kinda like, when you think
about a buy 1 get 1 free
that you're providing recognition, but when the team
does, it's amazing how that does. And and
1 way I've done it that is just
absolutely simple to do
is just putting a blank. Poster on the
wall and you're in your break room or
somewhere, you know, it's out a public view
of of,
definitely your customers or... I don't know, maybe
(21:44):
put it in front of your customers
if they're in, you know, like, you're in
a retail occasion.
But you actually just ask people
to write something they appreciate about somebody else.
You will be amazed how fast that thing
fills up.
How how people... Because they're in the trenches
together
and they rely on each other, and they
see how each other contributes,
(22:06):
probably a little bit more than the manager
or the leader, and you might not wanna
hear that if you're a manager leader, but
that's just the fact.
And you'd be amazed how fast that fills
up And the other cool thing is it
gets people out of their shell because at
the same time, like, I'm talking to you
as a leader about not providing recognition. Well,
your team probably isn't either.
(22:27):
And when that creates a really good culture
of thanking each other and seeing each other,
that changes a lot.
Number 3, timely
recognition. I mentioned this several times throughout this
this podcast episode, but when you really... You
gotta do it in the moment as much
as physically possible
in even though those little moments. Like I
(22:48):
said, you heard somebody on the phone. You
heard somebody talking to a client. You're heard
somebody solve somebody else's problem on your team.
Whatever it is, they they they come up
with a solution to something, but it's gotta
happen in the moment
So it really holds, like that person understands
that
that behavior contributed and you get immediate
(23:08):
feedback.
That is so critical.
The timelines is, you know, I can't emphasize
that I don't know.
Number 4,
professional development
opportunities.
So when you think about
people
wanting to grow
You know, here's the thing. A lot of
(23:28):
times you ask people,
are you interested in advancement?
And a lot of... Or or my manager
helps me advance, and a lot of times
they'll say no. But a lot of times,
people don't wanna be promoted first day. Like,
they don't wanna get into higher levels of
manager
management, but they want to learn more. So
when you think about
you could sponsor are their attendance at a
(23:50):
conference. Or give some kind of advanced training,
a mentorship program,
something that they get to grow in their
own role or learn something new or be
responsible for a higher level project,
stuff like that. So a lot of times
when you get so wrapped up in, oh,
well,
they don't wanna be promoted. So they're interested
in growing. That's not true.
(24:10):
People wanna grow even in the roles that
they're in. So don't overlook the fact that
you can help them develop professionally
in the space they're already. And now if
if somebody does want to have that career
tracking great pursue that.
But
you don't necessarily have to promote people in
order to make them better. So you got
somebody in charge of something
(24:31):
and you can send them to some workshop
that makes them better at just that,
And they see you invest in them. That's
huge.
And number 5, celebrate milestones.
You work anniversaries,
completing major projects,
personal achievements getting some certification outside of work,
just really celebrating
(24:52):
different
milestones.
And really, you know, acknowledging
their journey, their growth within the company, all
of that kind of stuff. 1 thing I
would add to that which I know it
kinda sounds like the opposite
of milestones. But if I ever
have anybody at my team in the hospital
I go visit an hospital. I don't just
(25:13):
send them... I I send them cards and
stuff like that and keep track of how
they're recovering. But
I always go see them something major like
that. You'd be shocked. Even funerals, like, how
many managers from companies don't go if it's,
you know, in town and all that. But
they don't go to a a funeral of
a relative or you if you just stop
by, you're in and you're out, you just
show your support.
(25:34):
But any kind of milestones that you can
you can really rally around, you definitely wanna
do that.
So these are just 5 tips to get
started
if you haven't been providing recognition to your
your team, they're probably gonna start having some
questions. Like so, in other words, if you
Haven't been doing it and all a sudden,
you just come in, like, a big ball
of sunshine.
They're probably gonna be a little apprehensive. So
(25:55):
say, okay. Well, what's going on. Why are
you so... Why are you so into this?
And, you know, just be honest with them.
Tell him me know what?
I should've have been doing this all along,
and I haven't been. And secondly, you don't
have to implement all 5 ideas at once.
If it's something you're not normally doing, then
you're probably not that great at it because
it's a muscle you're not using right now.
(26:17):
So just pick a couple of them and
just get started,
So you get in the habit of doing
it, making it normal now. I would say,
as the leader,
you really have to be intentional with. And
so you have to carve out some space
in your calendar to just sit and think.
Okay. How am I gonna do this? When
am I gonna do it? And, you know,
what days and and who am I gonna
(26:38):
do? You you really gotta map it out
a little bit. But once you get started
and again, like I said the beginning,
you make it part of who you are
and make it normal.
You will
be really good at it and and will
help keep your team and all that kind
of stuff.
Because after all, how you work,
you know, without them?
(26:59):
You really have to think about that as
a as a as a question,
if if you don't focus on retention. Like,
in other words,
you got so much work to do is
so many things to accomplish,
it's like, how do you not look at
your team and say, I'll thank God you're
here. You know, if you think that way.
And the only way to keep that attention
span is having a great culture
(27:20):
of recognition. And the good part is that
is 100 percent up to you. So what
did we learn today? How did you grow
just a little bit or more important How
can you help someone else grow? That's the
whole point of of lifestyle podcast. We hope
you enjoyed this episode. Again, hit that subscribe
button, tell all your colleagues and friends and
neighbors all about the show, give us comments,
(27:42):
feedback, things like that, we will grow together,
and we will see you next week. On
the leadership podcast.
Everybody loves getting recognition. So
why don't we ever do it? Like, what
is the big deal
behind giving
recognition? I mean, keeping your team,
at all is hard, keeping your team engaged
and motivated is even harder, and all the
data tells us that providing meaningful employee recognition
is vital to accomplish this So why?
(00:20):
Why do so many of us not just
managers or leaders, but just all of us.
Why do we feel to provide recognition to
others. More importantly, how does it affect us
and what when we
don't receive
recognition? You know how you feel about it?
You feel like nobody appreciates you. Nobody sees
you, but then we don't give it. And
this is especially true for Managers because there's,
(00:42):
like this tough love mentality, like, manager to
manager or executive to executive, but we're all
human beings will all function exactly in the
same way.
Recognition is good for everyone. And 91 and
of Hr professionals agree that good recognition programs
will increase your team's likelihood to stay in
your organization. By the way, the most
(01:02):
successful leaders and Are those that regularly provide
recognition? Like, if you wanted to just really
amplify your leadership? You would be doing that
kind of thing, So this is really more
about
how you can be a better leader and
really create that culture environment that you've been
dreaming to work at, and you don't have
to wait for somebody above you to tell
(01:22):
you or some kind of corporate mandate, you
can just do it. So we're gonna go
through a lot of different things in in
recognition
bad ways to do it horrible approaches, but
more importantly, at the end of it, gonna
give you 5 ways to provide your team
with meaningful rep recognition that makes him feel
valued,
and here's the good news. It's very simple
to do and it really doesn't take much
(01:44):
time at all. If you make this as
part of your leadership style coming up next.
You found a leadership lifestyle podcast, where we
talk about all things leadership because leadership isn't
just what you do. It's who you are.
So we hope to make you a better
leader, help keep your sanity and make your
(02:04):
team better so you make more money. So
every week, we talk about a different topic
that helps you do all those. So hit
the subscribe button so you never miss an
episode, Tell all your colleagues and friends and
let's get a discussion going on how we
can grow together things as better leader.
Welcome back to
Lifestyle Podcast. Hope you had a great week.
And this topic, it it just kills me
(02:26):
because it's just 1 of those things that
almost your entire team or or companies or
people across the globe will tell you
this sore lacking, but at the same time,
everybody in charge, everybody that is a thought
leader your company will tell you that is
is stuff that's just gotta happen.
And and so
first of all, let's talk about why this
(02:46):
even matters.
You know, if you think about, well, people
they're giving a directive. They're giving a paycheck,
and they could just do whatever they're gonna
do, but why does this even matter that
much. More than just the... Oh, it makes
people just feel good.
But when you wanna talk about really enhancing
employee engagement
and recognize the employees for their contributions and
(03:07):
achievements,
it significantly boost how they engage at work.
You know, in past podcasts, I've talking about
winning. And I've talked to you about if
people don't see the connection of their behaviors
to winning to what it means to win
for them,
then they're not gonna keep repeating those behaviors,
and this is what this does
(03:27):
is when you're really looking at... It's not
just about a ra meeting, but when you're
looking at,
engaging of employee behaviors and letting them understand
that what they're do... What they do matters
and it's all connected
in, this heightened engagement leads a way better
performance, increase productivity
and really a stronger sense of belonging with,
(03:48):
everybody on a team because they start to
understand why they matter.
The next thing is improved retention rates. This
is another biggie of keeping the team together,
and when you talk about regular and meaningful
recognition, and how it contributes to higher employee
satisfaction.
Well, yeah. I mean, everybody would say, well,
of course it does. But
(04:09):
again, why why do we hold back and
we don't do it. And when we make
them feel valued and depreciate, they're less likely
to go somewhere else
even for more money when you got the
right set of environment. Now it doesn't meet
that you can just say things to make
them feel good about themselves, they're gonna they're
gonna sense that if it's not true. But
when you do this on a regular basis
(04:31):
it really reduces turnover costs
for the organization and helps us maintain a
stable experience in the workforce,
really gets your culture where needs to be.
And speaking number 3, talking about the positive
work culture
where, you know, recognition creates that. In other
words, the behaviors that are repeated needs
what is what builds your identity as a
(04:52):
culture And you... So in now, you could
say whatever your culture is, but when you
don't have a culture of recognition, that it's
part of your creed,
then you don't really have a great workplace
culture. But what is so great about this
is because when you think about
the culture itself in
in the power,
when you do have to correct someone. When
(05:14):
you do have to change some things,
but you have the steady diet
of
recognition and positive reinforcement and and behavior recognition
that really adds more weight.
When you have to quote unquote negative. You
have to say something that you don't wanna
talk about, and they don't wanna hear about,
but it has to happen whether maybe it's
lacking in sales or some behaviors not where
(05:35):
it should be or whatever it is.
When you have a huge culture of recognition,
it's that
gives you more weight to do corrective actions.
And that's why it's so huge. So that's
that's 3 big reasons why
But what does the data really tell us?
When you think about
employee
(05:55):
recognition programs?
This survey by the achieve found that respondents
mentioned
interesting work
who was 74 percent of what they enjoyed
the most, but 69
percent
talked about rewards talked about
how they're recognized as top reasons they would
wanna stay their current employers.
(06:15):
And this increases productivity by 31 percent when
employees are happy when they're engaged when they
know
they matter.
That's what they want to to be involved
in and resulting
in job
improvement and job performance,
achieving business value,
when you start thinking about well, where are
we going? What are we trying to do,
(06:37):
you really want to get people focused on...
You can't just have a meeting say, hey,
guys. We gotta be better.
Or we gotta hit these numbers.
You know, you really have to
really
peel back the onion layers and get to
the behavior part, and then recognize and reinforce
the behaviors you need
by giving them their recognition they need. And
(06:58):
a recent report on employee recognition stats found
that 92 percent of workers are more likely
to repeat a specific action after receiving recognition
for it. I mean, think about it as
a kid growing up, that's all you ever
heard when you did something right, when you
made your bed when you walked when you...
Whatever it was.
(07:19):
And how did we lose as as adults?
It just... Things just kinda fell off the
plate and we get on this hampshire wheel
and all of that and we just kinda
forget
to be thankful what we have. And more
than 40 percent of employed Americans feel if
they were recognized more often, they would probably
put more energy into their work. Yet,
(07:39):
a survey
by authentic recognition found 2 percent
received recognition daily, 11 percent weekly, 20 percent
quarterly,
17 percent annually,
and 29
received no recognition of any kind. And that
is pretty sad when you think about how
little that goes. But the more you're around
(08:02):
people... And and it kinda of play devil's
advocate
The more you're around the same kind of
people. The more you just get used to
being in them around. Right? And you you
you know who they are and, oh, that's
just bill. He just access. This way or
that's Sarah G x that way.
That's kinda how you you get in this
in this hampshire wheel thing with your people,
not just to work this and you kinda
(08:23):
overlook that. But before you go jump on
that recognition train,
here's some things you shouldn't do.
So
generic
recognition, recognizing employees in a way
that makes... It just feels in personal or
generic. In other words, they don't even understand
why
you're you're you're doing it. You everyone's
(08:44):
getting the same kind of thank card for
no matter what or or the same level
you know, you may have... You might have
accomplished something a lot larger,
and
it's the same recognition for both or you
know, I had a... A relative an over
relative that would send birthday cards, but a
lot of times, the cards wouldn't be for
birthday to be for some other holiday, and
(09:04):
they'd actually draw a line through it in
hand right. Happy birthday. Does something like that.
Sounds crazy I know. But when you're just
handing it out because I, you know, Corporate
told me I had to thank people and
use just hand stuff out. Doesn't carry much.
Weight.
Another thing is public
recognition for introverts. And this is so key.
You gotta know your people. Some people
it it sounds crazy to a lot of
(09:26):
people to
if I recognize somebody in public, they freak
out. But but there's people that are like
that, and they don't want the spotlight and
they're very happy with you just doing that.
So what you wanna do is really connect
with your team and and just point blank
ask him. Hey. How do you like your
recognition. What what you comfortable with and and
(09:46):
get what what they wanna do? Because it
sounds odd, but you can have, like, a
star performer in the in as far as
like, on the execution side,
with an introvert, you start recognizing them publicly.
They'll actually stop performing, so you'll stop recognizing
in front of people. Sounds crazy, but it
happens.
Competitive
recognition systems.
So when you're basically pitting 1 employee against
(10:08):
another, we had this, not that long ago,
about 2 3 years ago,
had a
executive kinda... Because they thought, well, you know,
if we do this,
everybody up their game because they can see
where other people score. And they wanna do
better, but it actually back... And I knew
it was gonna backfire and sure enough it
did.
Because here's the thing.
(10:29):
They were judged
on the same 10 pieces of criteria. Right?
So in my mind, it's like the goal
was to get everybody together at the highest
score, not competing against each other. And when
this executive came by, saw my score board
Says well, wait a minute. Why is everybody
at the top of the podium? I said
well, there's 10 metrics,
and
8 of them achieved the 10. So 8
(10:50):
of them get to be up there? And
he was like, no You got accept that
somehow. I'm like, but I... If I tell
them upfront, there's 10 specific things they gotta
do, I can't change that later just because
so I can break be mandated to have
a 1 through 10. It it just backfired.
It was pretty bad.
Delayed recognition. Imagine doing something in quarter 1,
And in quarter 3, somebody goes, oh, man.
(11:11):
That client you closed was amazing. And so
much has happened in between. It it just
makes no sense though.
Being timely, just like smart goals,
being timely
with the recognition, so it connects
And and the sooner you give recognition for
a behavior, the sooner gets repeated. So as
a leader, you don't wanna wait on that,
you want to be able to recognize that.
(11:32):
And that could be a simple as a
5 to 10 second
conversation literally.
You know, you hear somebody
talking to a client on the phone, and
when they hang up, you just go by.
I heard at least your end of it
and what you said, and it was amazing.
Keep doing that.
That's it. It's so simple to do
and then monetary rewards as the only form
(11:54):
of recognition. So this one's kinda kinda dicey
because a lot of people are, yeah, Of
course, I want more money, but
then people start changing behaviors only for that.
And the problem is
you typically will get somebody who be really
good at it and most of your team
won't.
And what'll will happen is
a lot of things will fall off the
(12:14):
plate, and the other problem is you kinda
make... And I know I get this business
earned in business for profit. And people wanna
be paid well. But if you make everything
about the dollar, then that'll be the only
thing that matters, and you will treat clients
differently, you will treat each other differently. I...
Promise you and that is not a great
place to be. So here's some
(12:34):
ideas that are even
worse,
These will absolutely kill your team
the ability to connect with your team and
have any level of trust with them whatsoever
we'll all be blown out of the water.
It's an article from Forbes.
So
there's there's about 6 different things. So the
manager takes credit.
Absolutely cringe. In other words, somebody did something
(12:56):
amazing
but
it was because of
how you guided them. And as a leader
you have to step back away from that.
And say, you know, when your person is
out there doing what they're doing, you're seller...
Yeah, I get it. Maybe you train them.
Maybe you mentor them and all that. But
they're out there winning. That's the goal is
(13:17):
to make other effective people
and not sit here and say that. Because
what happens is after a while when there's
a lot of that, then people start saying,
wow, This team really got together. Who's leading
this team?
And that's where you as a leader start
getting your recognition. So don't take the credit
for what other people do.
(13:37):
Recognition is a mystery.
You know, when many people, you know, focus
in focus groups reported receiving mysterious packages on
their desk or in their mailbox.
In other words, it's kinda like,
a knee jerk, automatic. Here's your tri kit,
desk thanks,
and nobody knows why. So imagine that, like,
you can't connect
(13:59):
what the behavior was
to what actually happened.
So it's almost like saying,
you know, hey, Bobby Sue,
great job. We really like you.
And it feels good in the moment for
a second but then you're like, well, what
it what does that mean? What did I
do?
I don't understand. And you just going on
(14:20):
about your way. It will sound like a
used car salesman.
Number 4,
quotas, quotas, quotas. If if that's all we
were doing,
was
a recognition quota.
Things kinda fall apart a little bit because
the problem with that is
you will do just enough to get to
your quota instead of really really pushing your
(14:43):
team or really discovering something
about yourself or whatever,
Again, when it's just total numbers versus behavior,
it's amazing how many things behind the scenes
change.
Including people's integrity a lot of the times.
So that's really... It sounds good on the
surface. Oh, we got a numbers goal. Let's
go get it,
(15:03):
I I was just recently talking to somebody
whose company,
you know, they have some bonus structures based
on goals,
and they didn't hit their goal.
But their goal was so extreme.
Their company was wildly profitable for the year,
and it was better than the previous year
before. So you think, okay. Well, we actually,
like, put money in the bank, shouldn't we
(15:25):
be paying higher bonuses like now,
we didn't hit a goal. So we're gonna
base it off of that, which there's so
many things can influence a goal that you
can't even control. So what do you think
that makes all those people feel like when
they know for a fact,
the company made more money because of what
they did
even though they didn't hit the goal, but
now they're actually gonna pay them AAA lower
(15:46):
bonus than the previous year, when they didn't
even do so well.
Because of some arbitrary grow goal. That's what
I'm saying, you know, and you you just
make it monetary
or it's quotas quotas quotas,
you really run into that problem, and that's
a classic example of that. Number 3, the
timing is bad. 1 of the biggest complaints
employees have...
Being
(16:07):
about recognition is it being so late,
extremely late. Like, in this case, after 13
years of employment, they received their 5 and
10 year achievement award at the same time,
Oh, my god. Could you... I, I didn't
know how as a manager or a leader,
you give you give that with a straight
(16:28):
face.
That
I don't even understand that 1. But these
things are out there. It wouldn't be in
this article if it didn't happen.
Number 2, they don't know their audience
So the examples I've heard on this daily
mistake can be found funny at first,
but they're not. When a person who hates
coffee,
gets gift cards to a copy chain
(16:49):
or remote remote worker receives a gift card
to a store that doesn't exist in their
area
The message sent by the manager is not,
I appreciate you, but instead it's... I don't
have the time to get to know you.
I mean, that is really, really
a big 1. When you're talking about, what
do we give people?
(17:09):
You really have to, again, connect with your
audience as far as
understanding how they like to get their recognition.
What some of their favorite things are, do
they like it in private Do they like
it in public, like, you know, you have
to understand this stuff?
And knowing what your audience is is so
crucial and not giving them things they hate.
And especially if somebody has been very vocal
(17:30):
about what they don't like. You know, or
they're a a vegan diet person
and you give them gift cards to Mcdonald's,
You know, that kind of thing.
Number 1, it's all a song and dance.
The number 1 complaint, in focus groups around
the world about recognition is that it's just
not sincere
that nobody wants to receive an obligatory
(17:51):
a recognition gesture,
they they actually went... They wanna be appreciated.
You you know what it feels like, when
you get
recognition,
and imagine if you have to give it,
but I mean, if if it's just so
fake,
people, you know, they they feel like they're
being patron patronizing for their for another their
(18:11):
effort,
and their attitude, and their commitment drops like
a rock. And and it's easy. It is
so easy for people to sense that kind
of stuff.
So let's get under the good stuff, The
thing I promise you at the beginning of
this. So I talked about, we're gonna learn
5 great ways to provide recognition to your
team. And if you really want to come
(18:33):
alive as a respected and trusted leader,
making
recognition the right way.
You gotta make it into how you lead
your team,
not just something you add to your list
of things to do. I talk about the
same thing when it comes to company's strategy,
and it's all behavior based.
(18:53):
When you think about
how you interact people day in a day
out, rather than, oh, you know, we have
our scheduled recognition meeting 4PM, Thursday. It can't
be like that.
It's gotta be something that is just part
of who you are and how you operate.
And it... Because this is where you're really
gonna grow as a leader where you... You
(19:15):
gotta remember that every
interaction
with your team is either building or breaking
trust, every single 1 of them, no matter
how minor it is, You might not think
it's a big deal, but that's how that
works
that that they get to really know who
you are, know when you're real and when
you're not real. So
let's get into 5 ways to do it.
(19:37):
So
personalized
acknowledgement,
tailoring your recognition to the individual,
there preferences,
achievements and personality. So you're really recognizing them
or really even their behavior.
Because that's what you really wanna get after.
When you think about when you have to
have those hard talks of people, you never
(19:57):
wanna say,
you know, hey, Joe.
I I don't like you. Now it seems
kinda silly that you would say that in
a meeting, although some people might.
But what you're really saying is, hey, this
behavior can't work here.
That's what you're after. Like, you don't wanna
attack the person.
And it's this recognition kinda works the same
way in reverse. So, like, for example, like
(20:19):
I said before, if I say, hey, bob
obviously, we really like you.
Okay. Well, that's great, but it doesn't really
ring true to anything particular. So when you
really get it down to their achievements and
their personality,
this is where it really takes hold, like,
hey, I'm being seen.
You know, we talking about recognition being recognized.
(20:40):
Like, they see me.
They get me. They know what I'm I'm
doing and and what I'm capable of, and
that's where you start... You're gonna start getting
some repeated behaviors that you want.
By getting it personalized
to show that you've actually paid attention to
them as individuals,
making the recognition more impactful.
(21:00):
Number 2,
peer to peer recognition. I have done this
several times, and this is great. Now understand
when you talk about peer to peer, That
means you're actually asking your team to recognize
each other.
You cannot
do this in place of you as the
leader
recognizing people. So please don't In other words,
don't pawn off recognition or delegated,
(21:22):
but this is kinda like, when you think
about a buy 1 get 1 free
that you're providing recognition, but when the team
does, it's amazing how that does. And and
1 way I've done it that is just
absolutely simple to do
is just putting a blank. Poster on the
wall and you're in your break room or
somewhere, you know, it's out a public view
of of,
definitely your customers or... I don't know, maybe
(21:44):
put it in front of your customers
if they're in, you know, like, you're in
a retail occasion.
But you actually just ask people
to write something they appreciate about somebody else.
You will be amazed how fast that thing
fills up.
How how people... Because they're in the trenches
together
and they rely on each other, and they
see how each other contributes,
(22:06):
probably a little bit more than the manager
or the leader, and you might not wanna
hear that if you're a manager leader, but
that's just the fact.
And you'd be amazed how fast that fills
up And the other cool thing is it
gets people out of their shell because at
the same time, like, I'm talking to you
as a leader about not providing recognition. Well,
your team probably isn't either.
(22:27):
And when that creates a really good culture
of thanking each other and seeing each other,
that changes a lot.
Number 3, timely
recognition. I mentioned this several times throughout this
this podcast episode, but when you really... You
gotta do it in the moment as much
as physically possible
in even though those little moments. Like I
(22:48):
said, you heard somebody on the phone. You
heard somebody talking to a client. You're heard
somebody solve somebody else's problem on your team.
Whatever it is, they they they come up
with a solution to something, but it's gotta
happen in the moment
So it really holds, like that person understands
that
that behavior contributed and you get immediate
(23:08):
feedback.
That is so critical.
The timelines is, you know, I can't emphasize
that I don't know.
Number 4,
professional development
opportunities.
So when you think about
people
wanting to grow
You know, here's the thing. A lot of
(23:28):
times you ask people,
are you interested in advancement?
And a lot of... Or or my manager
helps me advance, and a lot of times
they'll say no. But a lot of times,
people don't wanna be promoted first day. Like,
they don't wanna get into higher levels of
manager
management, but they want to learn more. So
when you think about
you could sponsor are their attendance at a
(23:50):
conference. Or give some kind of advanced training,
a mentorship program,
something that they get to grow in their
own role or learn something new or be
responsible for a higher level project,
stuff like that. So a lot of times
when you get so wrapped up in, oh,
well,
they don't wanna be promoted. So they're interested
in growing. That's not true.
(24:10):
People wanna grow even in the roles that
they're in. So don't overlook the fact that
you can help them develop professionally
in the space they're already. And now if
if somebody does want to have that career
tracking great pursue that.
But
you don't necessarily have to promote people in
order to make them better. So you got
somebody in charge of something
(24:31):
and you can send them to some workshop
that makes them better at just that,
And they see you invest in them. That's
huge.
And number 5, celebrate milestones.
You work anniversaries,
completing major projects,
personal achievements getting some certification outside of work,
just really celebrating
(24:52):
different
milestones.
And really, you know, acknowledging
their journey, their growth within the company, all
of that kind of stuff. 1 thing I
would add to that which I know it
kinda sounds like the opposite
of milestones. But if I ever
have anybody at my team in the hospital
I go visit an hospital. I don't just
(25:13):
send them... I I send them cards and
stuff like that and keep track of how
they're recovering. But
I always go see them something major like
that. You'd be shocked. Even funerals, like, how
many managers from companies don't go if it's,
you know, in town and all that. But
they don't go to a a funeral of
a relative or you if you just stop
by, you're in and you're out, you just
show your support.
(25:34):
But any kind of milestones that you can
you can really rally around, you definitely wanna
do that.
So these are just 5 tips to get
started
if you haven't been providing recognition to your
your team, they're probably gonna start having some
questions. Like so, in other words, if you
Haven't been doing it and all a sudden,
you just come in, like, a big ball
of sunshine.
They're probably gonna be a little apprehensive. So
(25:55):
say, okay. Well, what's going on. Why are
you so... Why are you so into this?
And, you know, just be honest with them.
Tell him me know what?
I should've have been doing this all along,
and I haven't been. And secondly, you don't
have to implement all 5 ideas at once.
If it's something you're not normally doing, then
you're probably not that great at it because
it's a muscle you're not using right now.
(26:17):
So just pick a couple of them and
just get started,
So you get in the habit of doing
it, making it normal now. I would say,
as the leader,
you really have to be intentional with. And
so you have to carve out some space
in your calendar to just sit and think.
Okay. How am I gonna do this? When
am I gonna do it? And, you know,
what days and and who am I gonna
(26:38):
do? You you really gotta map it out
a little bit. But once you get started
and again, like I said the beginning,
you make it part of who you are
and make it normal.
You will
be really good at it and and will
help keep your team and all that kind
of stuff.
Because after all, how you work,
you know, without them?
(26:59):
You really have to think about that as
a as a as a question,
if if you don't focus on retention. Like,
in other words,
you got so much work to do is
so many things to accomplish,
it's like, how do you not look at
your team and say, I'll thank God you're
here. You know, if you think that way.
And the only way to keep that attention
span is having a great culture
(27:20):
of recognition. And the good part is that
is 100 percent up to you. So what
did we learn today? How did you grow
just a little bit or more important How
can you help someone else grow? That's the
whole point of of lifestyle podcast. We hope
you enjoyed this episode. Again, hit that subscribe
button, tell all your colleagues and friends and
neighbors all about the show, give us comments,
(27:42):
feedback, things like that, we will grow together,
and we will see you next week. On
the leadership podcast.
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