Page 259 - How America's Best Places to Work Inspire Extra Effort in Extraordinary Times

246B RE-ENGAGE

— Use committees, not individuals, to increase fairness in evaluating win-
ners of formal awards.
— Create opportunities for both team and individual recognition and
awards.
— Make sure employees are well-informed about the formal award nomi-
nation-and-selection process and the criteria for selecting winners.
— Do not allow formal programs to dilute the focus on managers’ daily
delivery of informal recognition.

— Look for opportunities to acknowledge contributions with sincere ap-
preciation.
— Encourage peer recognition by introducing new and more formal pro-
cesses such as bravo cards, pass-around trophies, peer-nominated awards,
and redeemable-points programs.
— Solicit and facilitate customer recognition of employees who exceed their
expectations.
— Make new hires feel welcome and important.
— Ask for employee input, then listen, and then respond.
— Keep employees “in the loop.”
— Reward results with variable pay aligned with business goals.
— Reward results with pay increases or bonuses big enough to motivate
higher performance.
— Monitor the pay system to ensure fairness, efficiency, consistency, ac-
curacy, and openness.

— Look for ways to increase on-the-spot recognition using cash.
— Involve employees in designing new pay systems.
— Provide the right tools, equipment, data, resources, and staff assistance.
— Keep the physical environment fit to work in.

: FINAL THOUGHTS

A young doctoral student, after the birth of his first child, penned a
doctoral dissertation titled “Ten Perfect Ideas for Successful Parent-
ing.” A few years later, after he and his wife had a second child, his