Quiz: Do you show your team enough recognition?
Take the quiz below to see how well you do when it comes to recognizing your team.
Most of your job as a manager is to keep your team motivated, happy, and inspired. And it turns out a lot of that comes down to how recognized they feel their work is.
Great managers build recognition into their day to day management, and their teams love them for it.
Take the quiz below to see how you rate when it comes to showing recognition to your team. If you’re looking to improve, don’t worry - we’ve got your back with tips to help you get there.
Do you make it a point to ask your team about their big wins?
You’re a manager, not a psychic (probably), so you aren’t always going to know about the great things the people on your team are doing if you don’t ask. And you can’t praise someone for something you don’t know about.
Most people don’t like to brag to their boss, but they’ll tell you about their wins if you ask. Making that ask needs to be something you do regularly — not just occasionally.
When you should be asking
- During every team meeting or shift huddle
- Your Workplace team group with a weekly post asking people to share wins in the comments
- Every one on one meeting with someone you manage
- In team chat, at least once a week
Going from good to great:
Ask the team about the great things they see other people doing. People tend to be more comfortable with that, so you’ll hear about more wins that way.
Are you celebrating those wins publicly?
Manager recognition is great. Public recognition is better. Make sure you’re regularly sharing these wins with the whole team. That’s how you make it a part of your team culture.
Sharing the team's big wins
With your boss
- Have one or two team wins to share every time you meet or just end up casually chatting
In your team group
- Use an achievement post to celebrate some of the big team wins of the week
Every team meeting or shift huddle
- It takes 2 minutes and makes a big difference. Make sure they’re included in any team meeting or shift notes
With the rest of the organization
- If there are awards or recognitions you can nominate your team for — do it. Show your team that you’re lobbying for them
Going from good to great:
Lead by example and always have a “thank you” section when you talk or post about projects or other work people are doing. And always recognize people who took time to recognize others to encourage them to keep doing it.
Are your rewards motivating?
The way you reward your team tells them how much you value their work. Whether the rewards are tangible or more recognition based, they need to be thoughtful. Empty or meaningless rewards do more harm than good.
Tangible rewards
- Gift certificates or movie tickets
- Clothing or other items with your logo on them (that they can’t get any other way)
- Preferential shift scheduling for a week
- An extra break every day for a week
- A paid, half day off
Recognition based rewards
- Wall of Fame: A physical (or virtual) wall to put up pictures of team members when they have a big win. Reset it every year
- A quick video of the winner talking about their big win. Share it with the team, your boss, and people outside of the team. (group posts and chat work well)
- A meeting with someone higher up in the organization (of their choosing)
Going from good to great:
Keep track of the rewards people have won and mention them during performance conversations, one on one meetings or even casual chats. Make their successes really matter.
Do your rewards make people better at their jobs?
Surprise awards at the end of the year or during a team social are a lot of fun, but they don’t tend to make the team do anything differently in the future. Great managers design awards around the things they want their team to get better at and then let the team know in advance that they’ll be given out. People will work to win the award, and you’ll get to see a lot of great moments to praise along the way.
Making rewards matter
Get the team involved
Post about the award in Workplace and ask the team to nominate other people on the team with specific examples so everyone gets a chance to be praised
Keep a public record of the winners
A physical (or virtual) Wall of Fame works here. The more public, the better
Get your boss (or other higher ups) to give out the award
That raises the profile of the people on your team and makes winning a much bigger deal
Make them a part of performance evaluations
Bring them up in these conversations and factor them into raises and promotions. Be clear that winning those awards made a difference
