Get the Message Out: Training is Critical to Success

Organizations spend lots of time training managers in obeying the laws and standards of the operation, but hardly any time training them on how to engage their workforce. Interesting isn’t it? Low performing employees and turnover are some of the biggest frustrations for a manager. However, organizations don’t train managers on one of best ways to encourage performance, namely: recognizing for the right behaviors that they want repeated.

To add to the problems with the lack of training, many managers are brought up in a mentality that criticism is the only feedback that anyone needs. So, when they make a feeble effort to finally compliment someone, it simply falls flat. So, what do they do after a failed attempt? They go back to the status quo by criticizing employee performance and expect that somehow that will motivate them to do better.

Anyone who has ever studied the case of Home Depot and their former CEO Bob Nardelli can clearly see that ruling by fear will not get the desired results. He lost market share to Lowes and had 100% of his executives leave during his reign of terror (as reported by Newsweek). If we want to change tyrannical behavior, let’s start with training our managers that there is a much better way.

Still not convinced that training is critical? Consider this quote from a large client this week and how their CEO responded to the presentation by saying, “I’ve seen a lot of recognition programs in my career. What O.C. Tanner has created is a not a program it’s a system that will help our business, and I’ve never seen anything like it before. That’s why I’m the global sponsor. The only way we are going to hit our aggressive business strategy is if we execute. And that will only happen if our people feel engaged and recognized.”

Training on how to recognize and engage employees is a critical component to a manager’s success. Are pay and benefits still important to employees? Resoundingly, YES! Is recognition training the silver bullet that will solve every problem? No. However, it will go a long way in supporting goals, creating accountability, and engaging employees when it is done well. Rather than being the soft and fuzzy part of a business, recognition has become an essential part of great organizations. How are they ever going to do it well if managers aren’t trained?

The Words We Use

Words are powerful. Indeed, I think we can learn a lot about an individual, a department, and an organization by simply listening to the words people use. What words are your employees using when they talk about recognition?

Awkward, uncomfortable, and embarrassing are just a few words that some people in our client organizations have used to describe being on the receiving end of recognition. As a result, many companies give up on the presentation and simply give employees the award without celebrating the purpose behind it. Of course, without the purpose, the award loses meaning, and the whole experience is often . . . well, awkward, uncomfortable, and embarrassing.

While meeting with a client recently, the HR Senior Vice-President said to me: “We don’t need the trinkets and trash . . . we simply want to know how to communicate better.” I cringed to think that she perceived their service award program in such a way. My response to her was this: “When the recognition experience is meaningful, the awards will no longer be perceived as trinkets and trash, but as powerful symbols of the employee’s contribution to the organization. And when the employee is honored, rather than humiliated, the recognition is appreciated.”

Our goal is to help organizations utilize all of their recognition awards effectively. Companies don’t want awards unless they know that those awards help them achieve their goals. If we want to be part of their solution, we have to help them make the recognition experience and awards meaningful.