Category Archives:
Recognition Done Right
101 Effective Words to Use in Recognition
I have an ongoing love affair with words. This earns me a fair amount of teasing from my co-workers, because in my effort to choose just the right word, I often grab a 10 cent word or something arcane that no one has used in … Read full posting
Thank You for Not Quitting: 5 Pitfalls to Avoid in Years of Service Programs
Stop me if you’ve heard this one: You work for a company for 10 years. On your work anniversary, your boss awkwardly pulls you aside and hands over a certificate of thanks and a catalog. Pick out a gift for your loyalty and longevity, she … Read full posting
How Written Words Drive Behavior
Which mode of positive feedback do you think is most powerful in influencing behavior… a face-to-face interaction, or the written word? Would it surprise you to know that the written word actually holds more power to affect how we think and act? Words matter. … Read full posting
The Carrot and the Cupcake: Why Motivation is not Recognition
Try not to be too jealous, but I have cupcakes. Delicious triple chocolate cupcakes with white chocolate frosting and sprinkles. I got them as a recognition reward. You see, my sister lives in the apartment downstairs from me, and she’s a lawyer. When work … Read full posting
“Only Connect” – The Emotion of Recognition
There’s an epigraph from E.M. Forster’s book Howards End that comes to my mind a lot now that I work in the HR world. “Only connect.” In the book, the phrase is advice given to one of the characters to not isolate himself from … Read full posting
Good Job, Good Effort.
If you’re a sports fan, you’ve likely seen or heard about the 9-year fan at the Boston Celtics-Miami Heat game. At the end of the game, the boy could be heard quite clearly (amidst the stadium silence) yelling “Good Job, Good Effort” to the … Read full posting
Is This Oversharing?
Balancing the Risk and Opportunity of Social Networks. Stop me if I’m being indiscreet… It’s just that we’ve noticed a lot of talk lately about talent poaching and social media. People are concerned about where exactly personal sharing starts to pose a professional problem. Is … Read full posting
Out of Sight, Out of the Loop?
It’s one of the biggest challenges of a distributed workplace. How do you keep team members in the picture when they can’t be in the room? I worked at a company once where the events manager — let’s call her Judi—worked remotely from a different … Read full posting
Performance Reviews: When Everyone Should Have a Voice
For millions of employees across the world, we’re in the middle of performance review season. And I’m betting there are a lot of unhappy faces and frustrated managers. In fact, when we surveyed U.S. employees for our Fall 2011 Globoforce Mood Tracker, 52 percent of … Read full posting
It’s Friday the 13th: Are You Playing it Too Safe with Your Recognition Program?
Today is Friday the 13th, a day that always strikes fear with a percentage of the population. It represents the combination of two “unlucky” days – the 13th and Friday. Horror movies have preyed on this for years, starting with the “too many to count” … Read full posting
