Recognition is a form of feedback and, unfortunately, something we tend to forget to provide to our employees on a consistent basis. Employees want to know that they are doing a good job especially when they have exceeded expectations, completed a task or project successfully for the first time or meeting expectations on a development goal. Some tips for giving recognition include:

• Make giving recognition a part of your daily routine - “When was the last time you gave someone recognition?”
• Give recognition in a timely manner - Don’t wait until your next scheduled one-on-one or a formal review with the employee; do it today.
• Make the recognition meaningful to the employee - If the employee doesn’t drink coffee they may not be interested in the lastest company’s coffee mug; for some employees they just need the accolades.
• Celebrate “big” and “small” successes - Consider giving recognition at critical checkpoints rather than waiting until the end of the project; this could be the encouragement the employee needs to keep driving forward.
• Use recognition and reward programs; (e.g., movie tickets, gift certificates, trophies) - Check with your human resources professional to ensure you’re meeting the company’s guidelines so that the form of recognition is proportionate to the achievement.

Remember, behavior that gets rewarded is behavior that is repeated!

Mentoring has been around for over a thousand years, with its origination going back to Greek mythology. Homer wrote in The Odyssey that Odysseus, King of Ithaca, had to leave his home for a long journey to help fight the Trojan War. Odysseus was concerned about leaving his son, Telemachus, for such a long time and not being able to guide, nurture, and teach his son the valuable components of life and ruling a kingdom. Odysseus sought out his trusted friend, Mentor, to fill this role in his absence.

 Mentoring has survived through many generations. An example of this survival is the apprenticeships that were created between the master of a craft and the novice. The master would teach the apprentice so that the apprentice could eventually take over the master’s role as well as take over the responsibilities of the shop.

 Organizations are currently using mentoring for career, leadership, skill development and onboarding to hasten the acclimation of new employees. A mentor can provide an environment for the mentee to ask questions or raise concerns without the risk of feeling “on the line.” They can provide encouragement and build confidence through discussions and coaching. The benefits of mentoring are three-fold:

Benefits to the Mentee:

• Helps build confidence and encouragement to grow beyond the usual expectations
• Personalized education geared toward specific needs
• Increased organizational awareness
• Increased political savvy

Benefits to the Mentor:

• Personal satisfaction of giving back to the organization
• Legacy of personal knowledge, insight and experience
• Career enhancement
• Heightened visibility in the organization

Benefits to the Organization:

• A growing “seasoned” workforce
• Increased productivity
• Cost-effective training
• Increased organizational communication at all levels
• Effective way of integrating new employees into the workforce
• Recruitment of new employees

Performance Management is a business tool that:

• Implements the organization’s strategic business plan by breaking it down into manageable chunks
• Aligns people and resources to the critical business outcomes
• Measures business results
• Links the appropriate behaviors to business objectives and outcomes
• Provides a structure for feedback and coaching
• Creates a stronger link between outstanding performance and rewards

A solid performance management approach supports the strategic direction of the organization and ensures the right people are in the right place, doing the right things to implement the strategy.

 Performance management strengthens the organization’s ability to align individual goals to achieve its critical business strategies that will improve its ability to deliver strong results.

Tips for Giving Feedback:

• Ensure it is timely and specific
• Reinforce efforts and acknowledge progress
• Seek a private location to eliminate embarrassment or interruptions
• Maintain respect and self-esteem with the individual
• Check for understanding

Tips for Receiving Feedback:

• Practice good listening techniques
• Focus on understanding, not formulating your responses
• Seek clarity if you don’t understand something
• Resist the temptation to interrupt or defend
• Say “thank you”

A high performance culture:

• Encourages collaboration with employees who participate, share and are open to new ideas
• Holds each other accountable and responsibility is sought
• Establishes trust at all levels
• Focuses on employee development and helps individuals drive their own development
• Embraces change to learn and grow
• Learns from its mistakes
• Makes decision based on sound judgement with facts and guiding principles

When conducting a one-on-one consider the behaviors you want the employee to:

1. START doing?
2. STOP doing?
3. CONTINUE to do or do more of?

While all three of these may not apply at every feedback opportunity; these provide a foundation so you can focus on the most critical behaviors that will help the employee be successful.

 And, remember, the benefits of giving feedback are:

• Reinforces the appropriate behaviors you want an employee to repeat
• Establishes clear and concise expectations of work performance
• Allows for discussion of inappropriate behaviors and sets the stage for determining what actions the employee needs to take to change those behaviors
• Encourages ongoing development on specific skills needed to meet the current and future organizational challenges

Watch for future postings at Notes of Excellence to learn more about Giving Feedback - An Essential Management Skill