Rewarding Effort

Some things just don’t work well the other way around. Take for example the process of rewarding results so that you get to inject more energy into the organization. When wanting to extract new ideas from your team and continue to get exciting suggestions, the way it will work is to reward effort which in turn translates into results. All proposals offered by your team should be recognized. Even the most absurd of ideas should receive recognition. By doing this more of the get-up-and-go attitude will surface and everyone will be inspired to forward that so called “out-of-the-box” thinking. When your team is brainstorming, what you want is for the ideas to keep on coming. You don’t want them to pull back and begin pre-judging their ideas even before they can share it. Setting the tone for this can only be done if we decide to reward continuously for effort.

By the time we reach adulthood many of us are thought to focus on getting our rewards via results and effort is at most given the traditional pat in the back ceremony.

What we want our team to learn is to view effort as its own reward.

It will involve opening their minds by consistently keeping up the enthusiasm in your voice and the words that you choose to fill their minds with.

Studies have shown that the reason managers and other top level executives quit is because they feel that their efforts are not acknowledged or recognized. Ideas that are contributed during meetings, mentioned casually in office hallways, sent through text or made via 2AM emails have required effort and therefore must be acknowledged and be given rewards. Now rewards can run from a simple thank you note to a leave early and watch a movie kind of prize. The important thing is to make sure your team knows that you saw the effort they put in and that you are recognizing it by giving a reward.

It is important to keep in mind that cheering your staff on or saying thank you to them for their efforts needs to be done with the utmost sincerity.

They can very quickly tell if you are faking it and that will in the end only make them distrustful and distant. If you notice that someone in your team is contributing more ideas than he or she used to contribute be quick to acknowledge this by saying, “Wow Ron you sure are full of great ideas today! Keep in mind that when you reward with praises they have to be truthful and they have to be specific.

It is also vital for you to keep not just your ears open but your eyes as well. It is possible that some of those in your team may not be able to express themselves well verbally but may already be doing things that can be considered great ideas. They may have developed shortcuts that are taking the organization to better performance levels. The efforts of these individuals should be recognized and rewarded as well.

When we begin to show our team that their ideas have value then they in turn learn to value the ideas of their teammates as well. Soon after, recognition for good ideas become the norm and a culture of nurturing and appreciation embeds itself into the organization on a very high level of intensity.

Call Dada and ask how creative thinking can implement an environment of recognition in your workplace.