Top Seven Ways Leaders Provide Millennials with Recognition
Recognition is about more than expressing appreciation and gratitude, it’s the most powerful tool leaders have at their disposal. When employees and their hard work are valued (and verbally recognized), productivity and performance improve, there is a heightened sense of enthusiasm and commitment, and they are motivated to maintain and improve their work. Praise and recognition are essential to employee engagement.
I offer you six ways to providing recognition to millennials and your team:
1. Recognize Hustle
Time on the phone, emails sent and responded to, face time with clients, online connections, and collaborating with other team members. Provide “hustle points.”
I remember on my basketball team in high school, every week someone was given the “hustle points” award. We all worked hard to earn that status and it worked to motivate us!
2. Speed-to-Recognition
See it and say it. Don’t wait for a one-on-one, acknowledge things in real-time.
3. Broadcast Both Little and Big Wins
One leader I know sends weekly roundup emails to his entire team, leading with broadcast wins. This included three to four team or individual “wins” that were observed that week – private victories, small steps towards success, etc.
4. Spread out the Praise
Don’t go to the same high performers every time you give praise. Work hard to “coach up” everyone. Team members who see the same team members recognized may feel undervalued. Don’t make it generic, work to make it varied and specific.
5. Reinforce Unique Team Values.
Consider embedding a brief list of values that you can use as ‘guiding principles’ for recognizing your employees. Start by paying attention to and acknowledging those who have shown a greater capacity to making clients feel like royalty or recognize someone’s attention to detail.
6. Give Formal, Quarterly Awards
Celebrate outcomes with some quality awards. Maybe something as simple as a $25 Amazon gift card or a restaurant gift certificate.
The bottom line is to treat your team the way you would like to be treated. Which recognition tip can you apply this week?
Here’s to recognizing your team’s effort!
– Steve
As a master storyteller, Steve has unparalleled ability to communicate dynamic business and leadership truths through stories, anecdotes and humor. Harness the power of the “number one” predictor of professional success, impact, leadership, high performance and sustainable relationships in business and life. Steve’s highest rated keynote presentation.
To book Steve today, contact Michelle Joyce!
(For information on keynote presentations, team workshops, and one on one coaching.)
“The purpose of Leadership Quest is to help professionals develop their personal leadership, vision and emotional intelligence. Everyday I strive to help leaders and teams achieve their desired goals in sales productivity, leadership, time maximization, and life-balance. ”
About the Author
Steve Gutzler is the President of Leadership Quest, a Seattle-based leadership development company. Steve is a dynamic, highly-sought-after speaker who has delivered more than 2,500 presentations to a list of clients including Microsoft, Starbucks, the Seattle Seahawks, Pandora Radio, Boeing, Cisco, Starwood Corporation, the Ritz Carlton group, and the U.S. Social Security Administration. He recently was voted #1 by the readership of Huffington Post as the Most Inspirational Leader on Social Media.
A published author on leadership and emotional intelligence, Steve resides near Seattle with his wife Julie where they enjoy time with their three adult children and six grandchildren.
