Page 123 - Retaining Top Employees

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Employee Recognition: What Works, What Doesn’t 111

Be Careful with Contests
Many recognition programs include contests.This seems
appropriate,especially with employees you want to retain
who have a developed sense of competition. Bear in mind,however,
that contests often breach the first of the three caveats listed above by
setting employees against one another.Also,contests produce winners
and losers—an outcome inappropriate in a recognition program.
Recognition programs should produce only winners,not losers. If
employees are underperforming,address the problem through the per-
formance management process,not the employee recognition program.

actual pay. Some “recognition programs” are little more
than ham-handed attempts to get employees to do more
for less.
• The program makes an inordinate demand on the employ-
ees’ personal time and/or resources. You should recognize
achievements attainable within normal working schedules.
It’s often amazed me that organizations set up “work-life
balance” programs for their employees while designing
recognition programs that reward only those employees
who work substantially outside normal working hours.

If your top employees work mostly in teams, consider mak-
ing the recognition process team-oriented. Setting individual
recognition goals is fine, but not if it tears at team structure.
Remember: teamwork isn’t always a top performer’s strong
point and, as we’ve seen earlier in this chapter, engendering
quality teamwork should be one of the goals of your top
employee recognition program. If that means making the entire
program team-oriented, like George and his R&D team (see
sidebar on page 108), that’s fine.
You want your recognition program to positively impact the
retention of your top employees—but not at the cost of nega-
tively impacting the retention of other employees.
Make sure that the rewards and awards in your module for
your best performers aren’t unfairly “rich” in comparison with
those offered to other employees. Otherwise, you’ll end up with