{"id":788,"date":"2012-01-11T05:00:34","date_gmt":"2012-01-11T13:00:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/markccrowley.com\/?p=788"},"modified":"2012-01-11T05:00:34","modified_gmt":"2012-01-11T13:00:34","slug":"be-transparent-on-what-performance-youll-recognize","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/staging-wmplo.xyz\/mark-c-divi5\/be-transparent-on-what-performance-youll-recognize\/","title":{"rendered":"Be Transparent On What Performance You\u2019ll Recognize"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-789\" title=\"Olympic Medal Stand\" src=\"https:\/\/staging-wmplo.xyz\/mark-c-divi5\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/medal_stand_655486-300x204.jpg\" alt=\"Olympic Medal Stand\" width=\"300\" height=\"204\" \/>I may have been one of the last leaders in America to have this particular insight, but it finally dawned on me that a lot of the people on my team were working extremely hard \u2013 and achieving remarkable things \u2013 <em>all<\/em> in expectation of later receiving recognition.<\/p>\n<p>My epiphany:\u00a0 When I took time to formally acknowledge and thank my employees for their committed efforts and achievements, they could <em>feel<\/em> the work they did mattered.\u00a0 They were certain I understood how much of themselves they had put into getting great results \u2013 and thrived in being appreciated.<\/p>\n<p>Recognition for them, therefore, was an extremely powerful incentive.<\/p>\n<p>Once I fully understood this, I immediately made some permanent changes to my leadership practices.\u00a0 First, I \u201cinstitutionalized\u201d recognition by delivering it at the same place, time and manner every month.\u00a0 I did this so my employees would trust that their extraordinary efforts and accomplishments never would be overlooked.\u00a0 The surest way to dim ambition and initiative, I realized, would be to let someone work especially hard, meet my expectations, and then not give them the reward that\u2019s inherent in recognition.<!--more--><\/p>\n<p>Another change I made was to pre-communicate what specific performance would earn my acknowledgment.\u00a0\u00a0 While I reserved the right to praise any and all great work and achievements, I wanted my employees to know which specific goals were most important to me and would <em>always<\/em> earn my applause, esteem and appreciation when they were met.<\/p>\n<p>By doing this, I effectively told my team, \u201cIf you achieve these targets, I will never let you down by <em>not<\/em> honoring you.\u201d\u00a0 Thus, when my employees dug deep to meet challenging assignments, they could envision our next meeting where they would receive their hard-earned tribute!<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019m a strong advocate for ensuring employees know what specific performance a leader will recognize and that there\u2019s never any ambiguity in employee minds.\u00a0\u00a0 Here\u2019s a quick story which illustrates how ambiguity can be really <em>de-motivating.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>I once had a boss who created an Olympic themed recognition program for his team of eight regional managers.\u00a0 He bought gold, silver and bronze medals \u2013 along with a three-tiered stand \u2013 and told us that the top three performing regional managers every month would be honored in a traditional Olympic ceremony.<\/p>\n<p>With such a thoughtful idea, my boss\u2019s heart was clearly in the right place and he gets high marks for making his program fun and special.\u00a0\u00a0 But his plan had one <em>big<\/em> problem.<\/p>\n<p>He never disclosed how the winners would be determined.<\/p>\n<p>Yes, we knew our most important goals and worked hard to achieve them.\u00a0 But our boss assigned weights to each goal making some more important than others.\u00a0 Since we had no idea what calculations he was using, we never knew until his meetings whether our results were good enough to win.<\/p>\n<p>By complicating the process, my boss inadvertently diminished the effectiveness of his own program.\u00a0 None of us liked to be surprised by the results \u2013 we preferred to do the work that would ensure success.\u00a0\u00a0 And we often felt discouraged when our results were independently strong but failed to be acknowledged.<\/p>\n<p>My best advice: be as transparent about what performance will get recognized and how you will calculate results.\u00a0\u00a0 Your employees will reach for new heights when they implicitly trust it will always win your acknowledgment and praise.<\/p>\n<p><em><strong>Sharing these posts with friends is cool! \u00a0And if you would like to receive Mark&#8217;s blog, please <a href=\"https:\/\/staging-wmplo.xyz\/mark-c-divi5\/subscribe\/\">sign up here.<\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I may have been one of the last leaders in America to have this particular insight, but it finally dawned on me that a lot of the people on my team were working extremely hard \u2013 and achieving remarkable things \u2013 all in expectation of later receiving recognition. My epiphany:\u00a0 When I took time to [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13,14,16],"tags":[72,80,107,109,133,171],"class_list":["post-788","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-heartleadershipinpractice","category-leadership","category-wisdomefromotherauthors","tag-employee-engagement","tag-excellence","tag-human-motivation","tag-human-performance","tag-leadership-skills","tag-recognition"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Be Transparent On What Performance You\u2019ll Recognize - Mark C. 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