Thursday, December 27, 2012

Reinforcing Values Drives the Right Behaviors

Most established companies are built on a set of values, underlining the business’ core purpose and setting forth principles to guide their employees in the future to sustain the organization’s health and success.
       Values are not and never should be an after-thought. Rather, they should accurately reflect the vision and mission on which the company was created and built, as well as the attitudes and behaviors of its founders. If they are encouraged effectively, values can serve as a fixed point of truth for succeeding generations of managers and employees to hold true to the founding principles of the business.
       As a means of “living its core values” and reinforcing employee behavior that reflects those values, a former client used to conduct an annual contest among its employees. Each year, managers and supervisors would nominate individual employees or teams who they felt best exemplified the meaning of the company’s five core values: “customer focus,” “honesty,” “innovation,” “respect for people,’ and “team spirit.”
       Each year, ahead of the year-end company holiday party where the awards were announced, the company president and the head of human resources would sit together, review the nominees, and select the most worthy teams and individuals in time to honor them at the annual party. Winners would receive gift cards for local shops. It had become a well-established tradition of recognizing and rewarding the behavior that senior leadership sought.
       I remember thinking at the time that it was a grand idea because it put the spotlight on and rewarded the individuals and teams who were living, behaving, and acting the way the company had expected them to operate, in a manner that perpetuated the founding principles of the company.
       I once got the opportunity to peruse the nomination papers and was impressed with the kinds of efforts people made, and the wonderful ideas many had offered. Most of these people went beyond their 9-to-5 routines and extended themselves for the betterment of the company. There were instances of individual creativity that saved the company a lot of money and/or improved products and efficiencies, or customer services.
       People do pay a lot of attention to how employees are rewarded and recognized. How else do you explain the plethora of entertainment and sports awards, as well as those in every other field? People like to acknowledge superior performance in any field. So these kinds of programs are a good idea.

Meeting Expectations?
It all seemed very inspiring and a good way to reinforce good work. But there was something about it that troubled me: the sense of a predictable routine of it all and the realization that there would be winners every year.
       It’s a bit like the “Employee of the Month” plaques you see in the lobbies of many hotels and restaurants. With a finite number of employees, it’s likely that everyone will eventually be honored. The first few times the award is given, everyone will generally agree that the selected winner is worthy of merit. But by the time you’re into the fourth or fifth year of the program, with 50 to 60 out of 75 or so employees having been honored, the award has lost all significance and meaning.
       Suppose the president of my client company had felt that none among the nominees were worthy of recognition? Would he decide not to give any awards that year? Would he be prepared to stand before the holiday gathering and say, “Sorry, nobody was worthy of the ‘Core Values Honors’ this year”? Nope. It’s not going to happen – though it does happen in some realms. Occasionally, for instance, the Nobel Committee does not give a Nobel Prize for Literature or the Nobel Peace Prize – justifiably.
       But skipping a year in what had become company traditions like this “Core Values Honors” would have had a negative impact. So it continues year after year and inevitably begins to feel a bit tired and predictable.
       Not to discourage this very appropriate recognition of outstanding service on the part of hard working employees, but organizations should be nimble and creative in how they do so. They should break out of the cookie-cutter expectations of an annual or monthly prize and be more spontaneous – and a bit unpredictable. Rewards and recognition are most meaningful when they occur randomly.
       There’s nothing wrong with flagging someone’s outstanding work one day, and then highlighting someone else’s three days later. Nor is there anything wrong with not recognizing anyone for a long stretch of several months, if no one merits the recognition. Taking that approach will have greater impact and meaning to people.
       The important thing is to be paying attention to what the employees are doing, ready to provide constructive criticism, to help people be better at their jobs. And, at the same time, be ready to say “thank you” or give a pat on the back when someone does a good job. And give a significant reward and/or recognition when they go above and beyond, especially when that effort embodies the values on which the organization was founded.