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!