So when did common courtesy become so uncommon? You just finished the annual review (employer or employee), bonuses and salary adjustments will be in effect by March 15. The company had a good year and the “lift” you see or feel will last for a while – if you’re lucky all the way to May 1. So why is turnover trending upward before June 30?
Limited recognition is often cited as the most common reason for leaving an employer. Not in your standard exit interview – too much “feeling” to discuss in that setting. People feel undervalued and underappreciated and it’s not because of your salary and benefits. Competitive salary and benefits are a “ right” each employee expects. The key to retention and performance is consistent recognition of a job well done. Many of you are now thinking “this is going to get expensive”, but it doesn’t have to! Some of you are also thinking “this is common sense”. I agree, but common sense is all too uncommon and far from common practice!
The best recognition programs recognize real and desired performance and result in frequent recognition awards. When your employee handles a particularly difficult situation especially well – recognize it now. Follow the Golden Rule – think how you would like to be treated in that moment and you will understand the importance of the seemingly simple, but often forgotten, sincere thanks for a job well done.
This sounds easy, so why don’t we do it? Give me some practical advice you say? Here’s an easy one. We all have a “to do list”, whether on a post it note or your Evernote app (I love this app). Everyone in your organization who has even a single employee reporting to them (directly or indirectly) should put their reporting employee’s names on that “to do list”. Cross the employee’s name off the list each week only when you have found a genuine reason to recognize their positive performance. Thanking people in person too “touchy” for you? Write them a note – yes handwritten, this is supposed to be your personal touch, remember? When others wrote notes of thanks, congratulations or encouragement to me they always found their way to a file I still maintain. I believe I still have every note I ever received from a parent or child for coaching a team or leading a Cub Scout adventure. My mother had every sympathy card her family received when my Uncle Bill Dierker was killed over Leyte Island in the Philippines on November 1, 1944.
Follow this practice for three months and it will be a hard habit to break – but if you’re anything like me, please keep the list, it works!