Is there such a thing as receiving too much recognition at the workplace? Can managers overdo it with the praise and good words they offer employees?
While it is not common to hear employees complain about being overpraised at work, it is become exceedingly common for workers to leave jobs where they go above and beyond, but are rarely recognized for their efforts. According to an article in Absolute Global, one of the top reasons employees quit their jobs is because they are not appreciated and are taken for granted.
Some managers try to combat this problem by increasing the amount of formal performance appraisals to bi-annually or quarterly. While this is a step in the right direction, formal reviews are time-consuming and vague. Employees take away little because they are being praised and criticized at the same time. A few nice words are quickly followed by here's what else you can be doing and how to improve. Performance reviews are for recognition and for criticism, and the statistics show that recognition alone is vital in retaining workers.
So how often do you need to pat your employees on the back for their hard work and dedication?
A recent study by Southern Methodist University states that waiting more than a week to follow-up with an employee when they've nailed it on a project is too long. The article suggests that in order to keep employees engaged, they should be receiving some sort of recognition on a weekly basis. Lorea Belle writes, "The Gallup organization has conducted studies on employee engagement and came to the conclusion that most of the time, recognition for good work has a shelf life…..of just one week!"
While weekly recognition may become a bit too taxing and time-consuming for managers with several other responsibilities, monitoring and praising employee's work must take a more regular role in the modern workplace. Every few months — or merely once a year — simply does not cut it in a world where everything is social and instantaneous.
Try recognizing great projects (individuals or teams) every three to four weeks minimum. If it is verbal recognition, it should be even more often. Try to reach out to employees every two or three weeks, as this can be even a four or five minute conversation about exceptional work or dedication.
If you are a top level executive and recently learned of a team that has exceeded expectations for a project, take ten minutes to send a quick email to thank them for their efforts and relay how impressed you are by their work. If you are a manager and really enjoyed working with an employee on a special project, be proactive and write them a specific LinkedIn recommendation stating what a pleasure they were to work with on Project X.
It is obvious that recognized and praised employees lead to happy employees. They become more engaged and motivated to continue to impress their colleagues and superiors. So instead of waiting around for a performance appraisal, make recognition a real-time process by offering quick and simple recognition through short emails or a brief discussion.