Recognise: to acknowledge someone’s existence, validity, character or claims.

Recognition and/or reward reinforces the ownership of success. In making it clear that we are aware of someone’s efforts and achievements we validate them and their sense of responsibility for organisational success.

Mutual recognition is an essential condition of effective relationships, it flows from the emotional intelligence that underpins goodwill and liking. In a society in which the acknowledgment of strengths can be deemed immodest, the appropriate reward of others’ contributions can be invaluable. It gives people ‘permission’ to feel pride in their work.

In this chapter we shall conclude our exploration of the six step process by looking at the importance of recognition and reward, and at different ways in which people can be recognised and rewarded.

RECOGNISING OR REWARDING?

It is tempting to think that these are the same thing. But it is possible to:

• embarrass someone by rewarding them when recognition would be more appropriate
• generate resentment by continuing simply to recognise someone when reward would be more appropriate.

To recognise someone is to acknowledge implicitly or explicitly that you are aware of and value their contribution. To reward someone is explicitly to acknowledge someone’s contribution by offering a token of appreciation.

Recognition is usually a two way process: good secretaries will make sure their bosses are aware of their triumphs just as good bosses make sure their secretaries know they are appreciated.

Reward, on the other hand, tends to be a one way process. The ability to reward somebody for something is usually the prerogative of those higher up the organisational hierarchy or of the organisation itself. (Reward can, indeed, be counterproductive in emphasising imbalances of power.) Reward is appropriate when:

• something has been done
  • that needn’t have been done
  • extraordinarily well
  • under difficult circumstances
  • for a long time.

Despite the differences between recognition and reward, the boundary between them is not sharp. A simple ‘thank you’, for example, can be both recognition and reward. A salary is offered more in recognition for a person’s contribution than as a reward for it (yet it feels more like the latter).

VALIDATING OTHERS

Good relationships are a crucial element of organisational success. Good relationships, however, depend on mutual recognition. Everybody, whatever their position, likes to be validated by others: nobody likes to be taken for granted.

Because teamworking depends on good relationships, good teamwork also depends on mutual recognition between team-members. It is this mutual recognition of the contribution of others that leads to the sort of bonding that is a key ingredient of team (departmental and organisational) success.

To the extent that an organisation nurtures the mutual recognition that underpins good relationships it will be nurturing its own chances of success.

Recognition of others can take many forms, including:

• asking for their input
• involving them in decision-making
• including them in activities
• recognising they have a life outside work
• understanding they can’t do two things at once
• asking after partners and children
• remembering details of personal conversations
• giving responsibility wherever appropriate
• delegating the interesting stuff too.

The ability to offer recognition of this kind is the part of EQ (emotional intelligence) claimed by Professor Daniel Goleman to be a better predictor of success than IQ. The EQ of an organisation will, of course, be a function of the EQ of its members and of the ways its systems and processes nurture that EQ.

EQ is particularly important for management. If managers are encouraged actively to recognise the people they manage, these people will soon find themselves returning the recognition. If managers’ ability effectively to recognise the contribution of their staff is included amongst the things for which they are assessed, recognised and where appropriate rewarded, the organisation will soon build for itself a culture where recognition is the norm.

In schools the recognition of teachers’ contribution will underpin teachers’ recognition of pupils’ successes. If someone doesn’t themselves feel valued they are unlikely to value others.

The success of such systems requires the sort of 360° appraisal outlined in Chapter 7. It also requires organisational recognition (as well as organisational reward) of management skill in this area. The manager who doesn’t feel valued is unlikely to value staff.

Clearly the recruitment procedures of an organisation will have a major effect on the organisation’s EQ. If, in recruitment, organisations always consciously look for someone with a high EQ (even if the job strictly speaking doesn’t demand it) they will eventually improve relationships throughout the organisation.

The organisation can enhance the conditions under which mutual recognition flourishes by:

• providing opportunities for socialising across the organisation
• subsidising pleasant places where people can eat and drink together
• ensuring the working environment is attractive and comfortable
• appointing cheerful and friendly catering and reception staff
• introducing flexible working.

Such things make staff feel valued and staff who feel valued usually also feel loyal and committed.

It is important not to fall into the trap of patronising people by thanking them when no thanks are really due. Human beings are very efficient hypocrisy-detectors, they can usually tell if someone’s ‘thank yous’ are sincere or if they are delivered simply for some other reason (out of a sense of duty or to provide an incentive). Whilst the former create feelings of warmth and friendship, the latter can generate feelings of cynicism and distance.

REWARDING EFFORT AND ACHIEVEMENT

Rewards can take many different forms including:

• praise and thanks
• share-options, bonuses or increases in salary
• fun: parties/lunches/dinners/outings
• increased freedom of choice
• increases in status and/or power
• privileges and responsibilities.

All these things can be intrinsically rewarding to people, but all are additionally rewarding in virtue of their effect on self-respect. To be rewarded for having done something well is to be encouraged to feel pride in one’s abilities.

The choice of appropriate reward is important: managers in particular need to be aware that the sort of thing they would find rewarding would not necessarily be viewed as such by employees, suppliers, customers etc. It is also important to consider the prospective reward from every angle to ensure that there is no hidden sting in its tail.

It is not only individuals who can be rewarded, of course, it is also teams, departments and indeed organisations as a whole.

Rewards can act as incentives. When they do it is important that they be:

• linked to efforts and achievements that are easily measurable
• chosen in consultation with those they are supposed to motivate (so they really will motivate)
• well-advertised so they can do their work as motivators
• awarded very soon after the effort or achievement for which they are providing an incentive.

As we saw in Chapter 5 the more people are involved in setting their own targets, choosing the incentives that will motivate them and evaluating their own performance against these targets, the more likely it is that they will achieve these targets.

If reward is tied too closely to results, however, this can lower performance. After all why should anyone set targets high when by setting lower targets they can be more sure of reward? When rewards are linked to particular objectives it is important that the package be negotiated and agreed in the light of organisational objectives.

Organisations need to encourage people to set targets that are high enough to provide a real challenge, yet low enough to make achieving them a real possibility. When pitched properly the challenge of achieving a target is itself a motivator because of its link with selfrespect.

Rewards should not always act as incentives. Sometimes they should be awarded for their own sake as a return for good service or for extraordinary effort or achievement.

It is important to reward effort as well as achievement because effort is usually linked to achievement. Care needs to be taken, however, to ensure that the reward of effort does not replace the reward of achievement. When people get rewards for trying hard (without succeeding) this can sever the important psychological link between effort and success. When we try to do something we should be trying to do it successfully.

SUMMARY

An organisation can only succeed in living up to its values if its people understand these values and are willing and able to make an effort to help the organisation live up to its values.

Such hard work and good will deserve both recognition and reward. Both recognition and reward make people feel valued and this makes them even more willing to exercise effort and good will.

An organisation that creates a climate in which recognition is pervasive and reward frequent will be greatly enhancing its chances of success.