Item 4: "In the last 7 days, I have received recognition or praise for doing good work."
Praise and recognition are essential building blocks of a great workplace. We all possess the need to be recognized as individuals and to feel a sense of accomplishment. There is nothing complicated about recognition, but it is one of the items that consistently receives the lowest ratings from employees.
Historically, praise and recognition in the workplace has been handled from the perspective of "If you don't hear anything, assume you're doing a good job." In contrast to this "old industrial workplace" mindset, the new knowledge-based worker relies and depends upon praise and recognition as the means of defining what is valued by the organization. Today, praise and recognition are communication vehicles for what is deemed as important.
Obviously, recognition can be either positive or negative. Gallup has found, however, that positive and negative recognition are not opposites. Instead, the opposite of any kind of recognition is being ignored. The worst possible thing we can do to someone at work today is to ignore him or her! Workplaces that continue to abide by the old culture ("If you don't hear anything, . . . ") will destroy the very human spirit that makes the true difference in quality output and service delivery.
Although recognition can be either positive or negative, effective recognition has the following characteristics: it is positive in nature, immediate and real-time to performance, specific about what is being praised, and close to the action. Many organizations have formal recognition programs that seem to have limited effectiveness. This is probably because these programs do not always give employees a clear idea of what, exactly, is being recognized, i.e., profit, growth, and so on. There can also be times when credit is given where credit is not due, such as rewarding the weatherman for a bright and sunny day.
Positive recognition is often thought of as coming strictly from supervisors or managers, but Gallup has found that employees cherish praise and recognition from peers. Coworkers know intimately the particulars of a job and when they notice excellence, it is a special event. So, praise and recognition do not just come "from the top down" anymore!