No-cost employee recognition.

• Author: Nelson, Bob
• Position: Rewarding Employees - Brief Article

As employers look for ways to manage costs, they need not make a dent in their rewards and recognition program for employees. Believe it or not some of the most effective forms of recognition cost nothing. A sincere word of thanks from the right person at the right time can mean more to an employee than a raise, a formal award or a wall of certificates or plaques. Part of the power of such rewards comes from the knowledge that someone took the time to notice the achievement, seek out the employee responsible and personally deliver praise in a timely manner.

In a study of more than 1,500 employees in scores of settings by Dr. Gerald Graham, professor of management at Wichita State University, the most powerful motivator was personalized, instant recognition from managers. Graham found that while three of the top five incentives ranked by employees had no cost, they were seldom done by employees' managers: (1) a personal thank you from one's manager for a job well done; (2) a written thank you from one's manager for a job well done; and (3) public praise. "Managers have found," says Graham, "that simply asking for employee involvement is motivational in itself."

Since several studies on employees have shown that the greatest influence on job satisfaction is the supervisor, any manager has all the ingredients for achieving a high degree of satisfaction--and a corresponding high level of performance--among his or her employees. And, the most important things managers can do to develop and maintain motivated employees have no cost, but rather are a function of the daily interactions that managers have with employees pertaining to work. I call these the "The Power of I's." There are five of them: 1. Interesting work; 2. Information, communication and feedback; 3. Involvement and ownership in decisions; 4. Independence, autonomy and flexibility; 5. Increased visibility, opportunity and responsibility.

Let's start by looking at the issue of interesting work. If your employees are stuck doing the same tasks over and over again, they're going to find themselves in a nit. Everyone should have at least something in his or her job that is of high interest Some jobs may be inherently boring, but...