Has there ever been the case where you’ve forgotten the name of one of your employees? Their face is at the fore front of your mind, but you just can’t seem to match it with a registered name. As they walk off saying “Thanks, Greg!” you think to yourself of what possibly could be their name and stop abruptly in responding with “Th- anks – you”. While you’re sitting there stumped at who it is that’s filing the company’s expenses, your employee is sitting on the end of feeling unrecognised. A problem that most employees experience in the workplace is the feeling of being small and unimportant. This problem leads into all sorts of corresponding setbacks – such as low performance and the possibility of failure. Leaders need to grasp onto the importance of recognition in the workplace to drive the organisation. By doing so, they equip themselves with motivated employees to increase performance for long term success.
Why should we recognise?
Bringing back the example of your employee feeling small and unimportant in your company, it can be detrimental to you and the viability of your organisation. Having your employees’ efforts go unnoticed will see them unwilling to contribute further. They will begin to hold back strengths they have knowing the point in doing so is worth nothing. With this mentality set in stone, your organisation is unable to take advantage of hidden talent and high productivity. As a result, you don’t meet goals and objectives as efficiently.
By implementing recognition as a key focus for efforts to reap the benefits as mentioned, a further benefit is relationship building. Knowing your employee with what they’ve done (including their name), you form this connection that allows them to connect with you on the level of friendship. We all know that with friendship, there is this assumed layer of trust. In saying so, there is strengthened communication between you and your employee which we know as being able to engage our employees.
How do we recognise?
As easy as it is to say “Good work!”, that doesn’t meet the cut in showing recognition towards an employee. You could say that to anyone and they’ll most likely respond back with “For what?” – and for this instance, so will your employee. In order to show proper recognition towards an employee for their efforts is:
- To show and tell
- Know the type of praise
- Be specific
When you’ve understood the reasons as to why recognition is important and implemented it correctly in your workplace, you’ll see your employee coming back for more. For a more comprehensive read on how leaders equip recognition in the workplace setting as a tool for motivational success, download “Your Guide to a 5-Star Workplace”: