2010 February Archive - RecognizeThis! Blog

Archive for February, 2010

Globoforce No. 10 on TechCrunch Europe Top 100

I’m thrilled at the recent news that Globoforce made the TechCrunch Europe Top 100 list this year. The Index, which was created by TechCrunch Europe alongside YouNoodle, ranks the most innovative and highest-potential European tech companies. As a new entry to the list, it’s particularly impressive we made it to the number 10 spot on this year’s list of high-growth tech companies in Europe.

This article on the Top 100 Index had this to say:

“The companies that have made great progress in the last few months are ones that have being doing important things like generating revenue. … Although I’d like to see more European startups thinking globally from the start, and going for growth, no-one is saying one shouldn’t have at least half an eye trained on where the business model is going to come from.”

Eric Mosley, our CEO, commented: “Since our inception, we made the strategic decision to take a global view in our approach for not only our business model but also better serving the varied needs of current and future global clients. This mindset positioned us for success in a crowded marketplace, as it enabled us to help global companies unify their employees and cultures through employee recognition programmes that are built on a global platform but executed locally.”

This, of course, could not have been accomplished without the innovation and leadership exhibited by all of our employees around the world. To our employees, thank you to all of you for everything that you do every day to live our values: Imagination + Determination = Innovation!

Also, a tremendous shout of appreciation to our customers who have also partnered with us in bringing truly strategic recognition and the power of a sincere thank you to their employees around the world.

What Are Your Amazing Goals or Ideas?

Chris Ferdinand of Renegade HR recently published a terrific collection of short, actionable things HR can and should do in 2010. With contributions from various leaders and writers in the HR space, Do Amazing Things is a terrific, quick read in its entirety, but I’d like to highlight just a few:

Lance Haun from Rehaul says: “I’ve worked with quite a few top performers in many different settings from every possible department. The one thing all of them had in common? They all made their co-workers and cross-departmental colleagues look like rock stars too.”

Be sure to pause and thank others for making you look like a star.

Paul Hebert from I2I says: “Employee survey after employee survey shows that recognition is a key driver of employee engagement, satisfaction and loyalty. Knowing that recognition is such a powerful driver now is the time to stand up and Recognize and Represent. … In 2010, make it your mission to create a culture of recognition within your organization.”

Couldn’t agree more, Paul. Excellent advice.

Nathaniel Rottenberg from Rypple says: “Feedback is a critical component in motivating and developing employees, and is essential for attracting and retaining high performers. Organizations that don’t foster feedback-centric cultures will ultimately fail.”

What’s the most powerfully engaging managerial style? One that focuses on employee strengths. The least engaging? One that ignores employees entirely.

China Gorman of SHRM says: “”You’re the expert. Make recommendations. Execute plans. Link your goals to the business plan. Measure your results.”

Now is the time to start. Offer solutions that deliver real results in better performance targeted to your needs, greater productivity and bottom-line improvements.

Read through Do Amazing Things, then tell me what would you add to the list?

Fostering “Horizontal Loyalty” among Teams

Bnet recently referenced Dan Pink and the idea of changing loyalty in an organization:

“Today’s workers tend to feel horizontal loyalty — a commitment to colleagues, former colleagues and particular projects. In short, put people on a team, and loyalties develop.”

I would agree with the truth of this. Companies have effectively destroyed any sense of loyalty many employees feel to the organization. That can be rebuilt through effort, but wiser leaders will work to also strengthen the loyalty and commitment bonds between employees and teams.

This can be powerfully accomplished by opening the opportunity to formally appreciate others to all employees through peer-to-peer recognition. To many, acknowledgment and recognition from colleagues is even more important than from managers. It is certainly critical in building an employee’s knowledge of just how important their efforts are to the group or team in getting the job done.

What do you think of the idea of horizontal loyalty? How would you support building that kind of loyalty in your organization?

Trust and Retention

What is the level of trust in your organization? I don’t mean how well management trusts employees to not steal directly or indirectly from the organization. I mean how much the employees trust the organization to do what is right by them.

It’s inarguable that the trust relationship has been broken in many organizations during the recession. Towers Perrin reports, “Many employees are feeling less connected to their employers following rounds of layoffs, budget cuts and ongoing uncertainty. This can affect their willingness to commit themselves for the long term – and prompt more interest in opportunities they might have in other companies or even industries.”

PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) says that negative actions of the recession (pay cuts, layoffs, slashed budgets and poor communications) “are combining to erode the bonds of trust between some employers and their employees.”

Why does this loss of trust matter? The same reports conclude that these employees will seek other opportunities as soon as the opportunities arise in the recovery. The first to go will be those you most want to keep – the high performers with the most knowledge and competitive advantage.

So what do you do about it? BlessingWhite offers the obvious – rebuild trust: “Communicate the vision. You need to create excitement and trust in your leadership. You should highlight the initiatives of 2010 and create faith that your company is on the right path. Your employees now have a choice about where they work. The large majority want more than ‘just a job’. You had better inspire them to be part of your future.”

The same PwC report points out why: “Organisations which continued to focus on investment and employee engagement are emerging as clear leaders. Those who continued to offer their employees new opportunities and invested in their people pipeline have a competitive advantage.”

What are you doing in 2010 to rebuild trust in your organization among your employees?

Globoforce/Dan Pink Webinar Available for Download

I greatly enjoyed my time with Dan Pink last week as we led a webinar on “What Drives Motivation and Recognition.” If you missed the webinar, you can request a recording. Below I highlight key points from the webinar. Except where I’ve inserted my comments in italics, consider the below quotations from Dan on his insights in the webinar.

FACT: Money is a motivator, but the connection between compensation and satisfaction at work is more about fairness than about amount. If people feel like they aren’t being paid fairly or adequately to support families, then they will not be motivated. But once you pay people enough (or more than enough), then adding more money does not add more motivation. The best use of money as a motivator is to pay people enough to take the issue of money off the table so they can focus on doing their work.

So what are the main motivators? There are three:

1) Autonomy: The urge to be self-directed and not controlled. Traditional notions of management, however, are about control and getting people to comply. Management is an outdated technology from the 1850s that hasn’t been updated that much and doesn’t work well in the 21st century. It’s great if you want compliance, but if you want true employee engagement, self-direction is the better path to engagement. Get out of their way and let them do what they do best. (Dan also offers examples of how companies do this today and suggestions for integrating the strategies into your organization.)

2) Mastery: Our desire to get better at stuff (e.g., why people practice musical instruments on the weekend). A recent Harvard Business Review study found that the top motivator, far and away, was: “making progress in one’s work. The key to motivation doesn’t depend on elaborate incentives.”

FACT: Recognition matters. A lot. Because recognition acknowledges the progress people need, frequently catch people in the act of making progress, call it out so people notice it, share it more widely and formally, and celebrate it. This is so powerful because Mastery depends on feedback. This kind of Now/That recognition is a powerful form of feedback. If it’s non-contingent (not held out as a carrot), it’s very motivating to Mastery. A culture that recognizes and celebrates progress is enormously motivating, creating engaging and productive places to work. And this is where the work that Globoforce is doing really comes into sync with the science.

3) Purpose: Increasing earnings per share 2 cents is not a rallying cry to get people out of bed in the morning. People want to do something big and something important. This is not a profit motive. This is a purpose motive. A profit motive can result in unethical activities and poor productivity. If the purpose is just about maximizing shareholder return, it is not sufficiently motivating for people to do extraordinary things. (Dan gives further interesting insight into how the Baby Boomers in particular are accelerating this push for purpose with “encore careers.”)

Be sure to listen through the Q&A at the end for Dan’s insights on the importance of peer-to-peer recognition as true Now/That rewards that are a great form of feedback, helping people move towards mastery and building teamwork. “Peer-to-peer brings a mass mobilization of the culture and is one of the most underused motivational techniques in the organization today.”

How Loyal Are Your High Performers?

If you are currently employed, how are you feeling about your company today? Perhaps resentful of actions taken during the recession and the impact on you and colleagues? Perhaps guilty about those reactions? You’re not alone. The Wall Street Journal recently profiled top talent across Europe, finding:

“Top talent across all sectors of the European economy—from bankers to lawyers—are increasingly becoming fed up with roles that they feel don’t exploit their skills and are waiting for a strong signal that the global economy is actually recovering to jump ship. One in four high-performing employees say they want to leave in the next 12 months, according to new survey of 35 companies in Europe published by the Corporate Executive Board (CEB). The consultancy believes the results highlight a “worrying” developing trend for businesses. While these individuals perform 21% better than colleagues, they are 10% more likely to leave their organizations today than a year ago. … When the economy does pick up, up to 65% of the high-performing employees who said they are most likely to leave, could actually do so.”

Is this really all that surprising? I liked how succinctly Kelly Services put it in a recent Smart Manager article:

“Answer one simple and telling question. When was the last time you heard of a company that dramatically downsized, severely cut spending in all areas, and, consequently, achieved noteworthy success? Think no further. The answer is never!”

So, what should you do to retain your high performers? As the Journal article suggests, give them clear direction, leadership and strong communication. How do you that? Strategic recognition is a powerful methodology for accomplishing just that, but with a double benefit. With strategic recognition, you are repeatedly positively acknowledging and appreciating the efforts of those who reflect your company values in achievement of your objectives, which communicates and reinforces those objectives with every recognition. But it also does so in a powerfully positive way, building good will and a sense of the company’s commitment to and high valuation of the employee and his or her efforts.

What are you proactively doing to ensure your high performers are loyal to your organization going forward?

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