The Many Forms of Too Little Recognition

In my last post, I wrote about too much recognition -- "When everyone is super, no one is." But you can only have too much recognition when that recognition is general or meaningless. Specific, authentic and actionable recognition can never be too much.

Far more common is too little recognition. Of course we're all familiar with the most common form of too little recognition -- never hearing any kind of appreciation for your efforts, except (perhaps) in the annual performance review. I and others in the Cafe have addressed this topic several times.

A less understood form of too little recognition lies more in program design and message delivery. Let me explain. A colleague's cousin, Ted, is an emergency room doctor. On his day off, Ted went to the hospital to sign charts. Seeing there was a very high volume of patients in the ER, Ted found a set of scrubs and treated numerous patients for several hours.

Ted didn't expect formal accolades for this effort. It's part of his job and his personal moral code. Just because it's his day off, he will not let patients suffer in the ER waiting room when he can do something about it. And then Ted found out a committee of leaders and some staff had voted for him to receive the "employee of the month" award. Via email that was cc'd to the entire team, Ted was notified of the designation and of his "reward" -- a voucher to the hospital dining room worth $25.

How did Ted describe his reaction? "Painful."

Why? The recognition itself -- knowing his colleagues appreciated his efforts on his day off -- meant something to Ted. But, and this is critical, further acknowledging that effort with a measly $25 voucher to the dining room -- worth one lunch and maybe a snack at break -- came across as miserly and demeaning. The "recognition committee" would have been better off either sticking with just verbal praise and acknowledgment or making a real reward commitment of greater perceived value. 

With this story in mind, think carefully on your employee recognition practices. Are you giving too little recognition? Do you perhaps have a recognition program that you believe to be effective but isn't filtering down through the various levels of management? Do you know what recipients really think about the recognition they're receiving?

As Globoforce’s CMO & Head of Strategic Consulting, Derek Irvine is an internationally minded management professional with over 20 years of experience helping global companies set a higher ambition for global strategic employee recognition, leading workshops, strategy meetings and industry sessions around the world. His articles on fostering and managing a culture of appreciation through strategic recognition have been published in Businessweek, Workspan and HR Management. Derek splits his time between Dublin, Montreal and Boston. Follow Derek on Twitter at @globoforce.

Comments

[E. James (Jim) Brennan]

Good solid observation, Derek! Brennan's Law #10 on Motivation is, "One second with a bucket of water wins more attention than a year of high humidity. And it’s more resource-efficient."

[Derek Irvine, Globoforce]

Excellent point, Jim. Thanks for bringing up Brennan. I like is "Laws" -- succinct and to the point.

[Tara Rodden Robinson]

Hi Derek,

Great post! In their book How the Way We Talk Can Change the Way We Work, Keegan and Lahey talk about ongoing personal regard which is expressed as direct (that is, spoken directly to the person), specific, and "nonattributive," which they explain as describing the speaker or group's experience of the person rather than the person's attributes. In the example you present, ongoing regard might sound like, "Ted, thank you so much for helping out on your day off. I was so relieved to see you and because you were there, I felt a lot less stressed that day." I'm guessing that real regard would be worth a lot more than $25 in snacks.

Best wishes,
Tara

[Derek Irvine, Globoforce]

Excellent example, Tara. That's precisely how we coach our clients for meaningful recognition. "Great job on project X, Tom. Because of your attention to detail, you caught a flaw in the process that could have cost us a great deal of time and money and impacted our relationship with Critical Client. Well done, and thank you!"

It's the details that matter...

[Laura Schroeder]

So true! We've all sat across from a manager focusing on the lameness of a particular reward rather than the intended appreciation. Mind you, I was once thrilled by a $25 Starbucks certificate so perhaps the venue rather than the amount was at fault.