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People have genuine anxiety about their abilities to give meaningful and effective compliments, which can translate into their ability to provide meaningful recognition. Their awkwardness transfers into an attitude of underestimating the effect their compliment will have on people. But what if there was science to support the impact a compliment (or recognition) has on the receiver?

When you want to give recognition to your employees, it’s vital to know their recognition preferences. Recognition is mostly an intangible expression of acknowledgment and valuing of an individual or a team, their positive behaviors, personal effort, or contributions. The key is making your recognition very personal. Let’s explore how you can do that.

Sometimes organizations think all they have to do is tell their leaders to go out there and say, “thank you,” more often, and that’s all you have to do to improve recognition. But that couldn’t be farther from the truth. Successful recognition is not just in the words used, but the delivery of those words, and many people don’t know how to recognize – they need to be shown.

Like a great movie, great recognition needs a few things – a good script, the perfect setting/location and even the right cast (fellow employees), to create a memorable moment. How can you educate everyone to do a better job of delivering recognition versus telling them to do it?

There are many things the current pandemic has affected, especially when it comes to how companies use their recognition and reward programs. While recognition in its purest form is essential, rewarding employees in many organizations has been reduced as companies are tightening the reigns on spending. People have asked for guidance on how to communicate to their teams the need to prioritize no or low-cost recognition options versus the use of rewards given the financial reality, so there is no negative viewpoint.