Picture this:  Everyone's there.  One by one they stand up and share stories about how wonderful he is.  His major accomplishments are mentioned in awe and his personal moments with tears or laughter.  For once, everyone is focused on what he has done right!  No one remembers his mistakes.

The only problem is... he is dead.  It is his funeral.

Why do we wait so long to set aside competitiveness, anger, bitterness and busyness to appreciate people?  It is one of the great ironies in life that seems to reinforce how self-centered humans can be.

The guys who wrote the book, The Carrot Principle: How the Best Managers Use Recognition to Engage Their People, Retain Talent, and Accelerate Performance, believe 67% of all employees have NOT received a compliment in the past year.  My guess is that most if not all of those employees did get complimented, but they also got 10-20 (or more) corrections, reprimands, sarcastic remarks or insults for every compliment so the good news was quickly forgotten.

What can you do?

You can have fun.  Engage a positive extrovert on staff (or on contract) to organize monthly recognition of your people.  Think of yourself as an employee.  How would you feel if one day you came to work and the following happened:

1. A banner across the reception area said "(your name) IS AWESOME!"

2. Many people had buttons on that said, "(your name)'s THE BEST!"

3. Your cubicle is decorated with something you love - nature, Dilbert comics, Star Wars toys

4. You were taken to lunch at your favorite restaurant by the president along with two people of your choice.

5. Something you have been waiting on is suddenly prioritized and completed for you.

6. Your boss calls your spouse to say the company is really happy to have you on the team and shares a story of your success.

7. You receive a scrapbook from www.picaboo.com with photos and stories from other employees about your great works, good character and friendship.

8. You get a crisp $100 bill to spend on yourself or a nice dinner with your spouse.

The point is, PLEASE do not wait until it is too late to say "You are great" to your employees. 

Meeting Ideas

You Are Awesome is a way to increase employee productivity, profits and personal fulfillment in working for your company.

Here are some ideas for discussion during your next management (not staff) meeting to consider how your firm, at very low cost, can recognize people more regularly.

1. Determine why you want to recognize people.

2. Define how you want to recognize people.

3. Choose when you want to recognize people.

4. Decide who will be in charge of activities to recognize people.

5. Track recognition to make certain everyone gets appreciated.