We’re all tired of the recession; however, according to the latest Towers
Perrin Workplace Watch, employees especially are falling into recession
fatigue. The study concludes that employees have the most negativity around potential
career development opportunities.

Only fifty-seven percent of employees agree that their company offers opportunities
for long-term professional development, a 16 percent drop since the beginning of 2009.
Towers Perrin concludes that this drop is due to employees feeling less connected
to the company they work for and also having less faith in leadership as a result
of recessionary actions like layoffs and budget cuts.

Are the levels of engagement in your company falling as a result of this negative
economic environment? Below are some ways leaders can combat fatigue:

• Let employees know when they are doing things that impact business results. Doing
  so helps them understand how their actions make a difference and, of course, makes
  them feel good. Consistently recognizing employees and sharing successes company-wide
  builds morale as well as spreads best practices.
• Openly communicate what your company thinks about professional development. Set expectations
  with employees in regards to how much growth they can look forward to and when. Even
  if it’s not a reality right now, generating awareness will help ease employee’s perspective
  about lack of growth opportunities.
• If your company has had to reduce or cut investments in continuing professional education
  or industry seminars and conferences at this time, communicating the why behind these
  actions will help employees see the reasoning and be more forgiving.

Focusing on managing employee expectations through communication and consistent acknowledgment
will ease negativity and help rebuild trust as we work our way out of these trying
times.

Well maybe not Pizza Hut exactly, but it’s true that the lifetime value of a customer for a regular pizza place is around $8,000.

Lifetime value is a common phrase for describing how much a customer is worth to a
company if the person remains loyal over the course of their life. Disney is one company
that understands the importance of lifetime value. They estimate that customers, from
the first walk through the entry gate, are worth up to $50,000 in lifetime value.
Knowing this, Disney pays close attention to creating customers for life. They know
that the greater the connection a customer feels to a company, the greater the loyalty
and the greater probability for maximizing lifetime value. Disney creates connections
with customers by orchestrating experiences at different points of interaction, which
I’ve written about before (remember the white
jumpsuit man?) because their experiences are simply amazing.

But you don’t have to be Disney to care about lifetime value and deliver experiences
that earn you customers for life. Think of a company you love doing business with.
Now think about why you love it so much. Are they responsive to your inquiries? Do
they treat you with respect and urgency every time you interact with them? These things
may seem basic, but that’s just the point. Being responsive and treating you with
respect makes you feel valued. These are simple behaviors that if done consistently
by a company’s employees, can create experiences the keep customers coming back and
referring the company to others.

On the other hand, you could just learn to say goodbye to customers’ potential lifetime
value, as Seth Godin jokes about in his blog
post.

What experiences does your company stage to ensure repeat business and a strong unpaid
marketing department? Have you defined the behaviors employees can deliver to build
relationships with customers? How are you building lifetime value?

The winter is upon us, the days are shorter, and the holidays are quickly approaching. This time of year can be full of joy, but it can also be a time of stress as people are busy both professionally and personally.

Consequently, it’s a great time for leaders to make sure their people feel valued
for the work that they are doing. Especially during this hectic time of year, letting
employees know the impact they are having on company success helps them see the importance
of their work and eases feelings of being overwhelmed by tasks.

A strategic recognition program that ties employee behaviors to the company strategy
is a great way to show appreciation and also share success/best practices across the
organization. Unfortunately, many companies resort to reward and recognition programs
that simply don’t work. Note that I reference these programs as reward first. These
programs have a fundamentally flawed view of human behavior that focuses on the carrot
and the stick. Well, what happens when the carrot is removed? The truth is every person
in the company should be recognized, even if only a few are actually rewarded. To
truly achieve both short- and long-term performance successes, companies should implement
recognition (first) and reward (second) programs that make it easy for all employees
to participate.

So why do reward programs fail? Most fail for at least one of three reasons:

1. They are too exclusive, leading to limited participation
2. They are difficult to manage (beyond sales incentive programs)
3. Too much focus is placed on financial targets at the exclusion of the right behaviors
   required to hit targets

Reward programs can work if they are driven by the spirit of recognition and are less
focused on the reward. Here are some solutions to rejuvenate your recognition efforts,
or to help guide a new initiative:

1. Make the recognition program about the company strategy and key objectives and provide
   detailed behaviors that employees should be doing. Don’t make it just about company
   or individual financial goals. Make sure employees understand the strategy, objectives,
   and behaviors; are committed to achieving them (true belief, not just lip service);
   and know how to take action to achieve results.
2. Ensure both employees and leaders focus on finding successes and sharing them with
   others. Individual successes that lead to company results are critical input for any
   recognition program.
3. Determine a reward that fits well with your culture. Money is the not the number one
   motivator for the majority of employees. While both cash and non-cash awards have
   a place in the employee compensation mix, it’s important to stress that cash can be
   an ineffective motivator. In most cases, it simply will not energize people to reach
   beyond their basic job requirements to achieve good results.
   

A peer-to-peer recognition program is the best investment you can make in your people.
By peer-to-peer, I am referring to any employee recognizing the good work of others
(behaviors in alignment with the brand strategy) up, down, and across the company.
When done right, peer-to-peer recognition will focus on behavioral outcomes and not
just end results. Employee behaviors that are powered by the brand strategy of the
company should be what you encourage others to achieve. Behaviors are visible. Your
coworkers can see if you are doing the right things. When they do, they should have
a way to recognize you. If you don’t tie your recognition program to behaviors, witnessing
activities worthy of recognition can become very subjective and ineffective.

Employees who look for and recognize the right behaviors being done by others typically
understand the why behind the strategy. They get the company’s philosophies, brand
values, and core beliefs. In most cases, these individuals have more of a passion
for action: they are focused on doing. A sound peer-to-peer recognition program encourages
employees to do the behaviors that bring the brand to life and helps a company highlight
the behaviors and the impact employees have on business results.

Recognizing employees will not only help them to be successful, but will help those
that work with them to benefit from their success rather than be impacted by their
stress, not only during the holidays, but all year round!