It is a scientific fact that: Tomorrow you will only remember 60% of what happened to you today. By this day next week you will only have remembered 10%
So what’s my point?
My point is that you should NOT wait until the end of the week or end of month or end of year to recognise and reward your team when they do something specifically awesome. Because by this time next week they would have forgotten the specifics of what they did so well. And a vague reward and recognition is totally pointless and comes across as insincere. Compare: “You are doing a great job” to “The solution you came up with on the Penski file is very innovative.” The latter is much more appreciated.
Therefore to keep your team engaged and HAPPY, here’s what you should do:
- Recognise great effort as soon as it happens – by email, in person or at a team huddle. Call it out and be specific about what they did right. ‘Praise’ emails that are specific help the person know exactly what behaviour is valued in your team.
- Reward a person specifically for each awesome event. A massage, movie tickets, shopping vouchers etc…
General reward and recognition at set events, like annual awards nights are nice but nowhere near as effective.