How Do You Recognize Top Performers to Boost Team Morale? Share Your Methods!

Hi,

Does anybody share how and what are the different ways/methods to give recognition to a good performer as an individual/team for keeping high morale?

Pramod

Hi Sree,

Here is the corrected version of your message:

Pramod,

You can consider giving:
1) a team dinner in a five-star hotel
2) a half-day outing to a nice, posh place
3) an appreciation email to the team with a CC to senior management
4) recognizing the team's performance in a company meeting
5) a promotion and more job responsibility.

Thanks,
Sree

MULTI MOTIVATION

You must look at the total people systems under three headings.

1. REWARDS SYSTEM

This is an area requiring constant monitoring and as much imagination as you can apply in devising many types of rewards:

- Pay market rates.
- Link rewards to performance.
- Instant cash bonuses.
- Rewarding individual performance.
- Rewarding team performance.
- Making excellence awards.
- Asking the team to nominate the best performer on a monthly basis.
- Giving people more autonomy.
- Enriching good performers' jobs.
- Sending performers to external courses.
- Sending a 'thank you' to the employees' home.
- Giving the family "gift vouchers."
- Putting the performer's photograph on the employees' board.
- Giving employees/partners movie tickets, etc.

2. PEOPLE MAINTENANCE

- Offering people support to maintain good health.
- Support to join health clubs.
- Taking people/their families on picnics.
- Organizing festival parties.
- Offering training support.
- Providing child care support.
- Promoting from within as a policy.
- Shares for loyal staff, etc.

3. COMMUNICATION

- Set a system for management to communicate regularly.
- Provide a suggestion box.
- Quality circles meetings.
- Problem-solving meetings.
- Cascade briefing groups downwards on a regular basis.
- Informal get-togethers.
- Regular staff/management meetings.
- Weekly happy hour meetings, etc.

A number of HR concepts could be utilized to motivate the people while maintaining the productivity level:

- Introduce multi-skilling for the employees.
- Job rotation for the employees.
- Job enrichment programs for those willing/able employees.
- Pay for performance bonus.
- Regular attendance bonus.
- More/adaptable training.
- Improved techniques for production improvements.
- Productivity improvement suggestions/bonus.
- Team-building workshops.
- Spot talent early, offer project assignments.
- Offer market rates for the employees.
- Offer recognitions for achievements.
- Send talents for further education.
- Set up and maintain a good library for the staff.
- Provide good staff amenities.
- Conduct staff/family sports day.
- Organize staff/family picnic day, etc.

Hope this is useful to you.

Regards,

LEO LINGHAM

Hi Pramod,

The rewards can be categorized according to the achievements, and schemes for each of them can be worked out separately.

Monthly target achievements can be rewarded by:

- Dinner with the entire team and the HOD
- Monthly incentives
- Training in some good locations
- Star of the month with the individual's name displayed for that month in the office

Quarterly target achievements can be at a higher level:

- Personal dinner meeting with the Region Head (e.g., Head of Operations of North India)
- Special holiday incentive to an exotic location in India
- Valued contributor of the region for that quarter

Annual target achievements can be rewarded with:

- Holiday incentive to a foreign country
- Dinner meeting with CEO
- Asking him to present the modus operandi in the HQ in the presence of Head of Operations of all regions for the sharing of knowledge
- Fast-track career path for high achievers

A system of earning points based on achievements can be devised, and at the end, the person with the maximum points can be rewarded.

There also needs to be a system to identify the individual's interest in other functions than his original function, and he can be rotated to those functions. Contributions to special projects also need to be identified and rewarded.

Hope this gives you some clue.