Last week, I had discussed the importance of mangers and their involvement and commitment to creating a successful recognition initiative within their organization. This week, I would like to discuss how to build manager buy-in and accountability. Managers are the key ingredient to tying recognition to their critical business strategies because they oversee the day-to-day activities; hence have the most opportunities to recognize employees for doing the right things NOW.
The most effective way to build manager buy-in is to illustrate the positive effect an integrated recognition program has on your organizations’ bottom line as well as employee engagement, retention, and morale. Sounds like quite the task, but if management is well informed, engaged, and trained, they can be so powerful!
On average, a successful recognition program can yield an RIO from 200% to 600% +, which is common in programs we have designed for our clients. Successful managers that deliver their business strategies use recognition and they have actively engaged team members as well.
As we all know, an engaged employee is a productive employee. It is tough to swallow the billions of dollars in lost production because of disengaged employees. According to the Gallop Poll, the United States has the highest percentage of engaged workers reporting only at 27%. This equates to over 22 million disengaged employees resulting to over $300 billion annually in lost productivity.
Different levels of management also play distinct rolls in recognition initiatives – senior managers create the recognition strategy while middle managers implement the strategy. Tools are available for both levels of management to display timely, actionable reports. These reports should output who is recognizing, who is getting recognized, and why they are being recognized.
Today, it is easier to hold managers accountable for their role in using recognition as a feedback and people engagement tool. Other ideas to hold managers accountable are to add recognizing employees to the managers’ job description and hold recognition training sessions. In the past, we had a client who hosted “Recognition 101” for all management staff.
Managers should consider recognition as a way of providing positive feedback and investing in their employees. Most managers do agree that recognition is necessary for the health of their organization. What tools could you use to successfully promote recognition within your organization?
Posted by Recognize Right 
