You don’t have to spend a lot to show your corporate gratitude to employees. Here are suggestions on how to thank with simplicity.
Simple Gestures Count Most
Recognition doesn’t have to be fancy; in fact, the simpler and more direct, the better. The more I work with recognition and rewards, the more I’m intrigued with the simple, sincere ways employees use to appreciate each other with a minimum of cost, paperwork and administration.
At Wilsonville, Oregon-based Tektronix Inc., the company instituted a simple way for managers and employees alike to focus on recognizing others for doing something right. Dubbed the You Done Good Award, this simple certificate was printed in pads and could be given to anybody in the company from anybody else in the company. On it, individuals stated what was done, who did it and when, and then gave the certificate to the person. The idea is now a part of life at Tektronix. Says one employee: “Even though people say nice things to you, it means more when people take the time to write your name on a piece of paper and deliver it.”
Another simple yet effective approach is to put notes on business cards. John Plunkett, director of employment and training for Cobb Electronic Membership Corp. in Marietta, Georgia, says “People love to collect others’ business cards. Simply carry a supply of thank you cards with you and as you ‘catch people doing something right,’ immediately write ‘Thanks,’ ‘Good job,’ ‘Keep it up,’ and what they specifically did in two to three words. Put the person’s name on the card and sign it.”
SOURCE: Excerpted with permission from an essay titled,”Rub Somebody the Right Way,” by Bob Nelson, which is included in the book: “Heart At Work,” by Jack Canfield and Jacqueline Miller (McGraw-Hill 1996).
Workforce, November 1997, Vol. 76, No. 11, p. 78.