Recogntion Professionals International
For professionals tasked with creating and/or managing recognition and reward systems (RRS), Recognition Professionals International (RPI, www.recognition.org) is an organization that will greatly benefit your work. Here are the things it will do for you –
- Provide training that’s been validated and brings a credential. RPI’s Certified Recognition Professional training (CRP) program was developed by industry professionals in an effort to help individuals understand the nuances inherent in using recognition to support organizational cultures, drive behaviors and highlight performance. Graduates of the four module program receive the designation of Certified Recognition Professional. Graduates have come from companies like Wells Fargo, Ameriprise, Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group, T-Mobile, Abbott Labs, Verizon, Boeing, Delta Airlines, Microsoft, MetLife, governmental agencies and hospital groups.
- You’ll meet people who do what you do. The creation/maintenance of an RRS is not a very common job description and it helps to have a network of people outside your company that you can go to for questions and discussion.
- You will have a chance to be part of a larger discussion. RPI is the only association that deals with RRS as its sole issue. At conferences you’ll be surrounded by people that are involved in their work just like you are and are interested in what’s new, how to do things better and what’s happening in other places. It’s dynamic…
If you’re curious about how to get involved, there are two things happening pretty quickly – CRP Training is being held in Dallas, Texas at The Miller Company on February 21/22 and the RPI Annual Conference is being held in St Louis, Missouri at Maritz on April 29 – May 2. For more detail on these and other opportunities, go to the RPI website.
Walking Past Greatness
A few years ago one of the greatest concert violinists in the world, Joshua Bell, performed at a Metro Station in Washington DC. Here’s the YouTube clip of his performance –
www.youtube.com/watch?v=hnOPu0_YWhw
In the 60 minutes Bell played, a few people stopped and listened, one person actually recognized him and he collected $32. Two days prior to the DC Metro concert, he sold out a theater in Boston where average ticket prices were $100. The effort was part of a social experiment by The Washington Post to determine people’s priorities, taste and perception.
Why will people gladly pay serious money one day to see a world-class performer and then the next day, walk by that same performer as if he didn’t exist? Social scientists would use quite a few words to explain the human behavior observed in this experiment, but I think three words provide a summary that’s relevant and that translates to the workplace:
Time – the perception of a time surplus creates opportunities to experience unplanned events.
Presence – when we allow ourselves to be “in the moment”, we are more likely to notice our surroundings.
Context – when we are predisposed to life experiences occurring in one context, it is difficult to process that same experience in another context.
Too often, we all walk by “great performances” in our work environments because we feel swamped by our circumstances and all we can do is think about ourselves and the pressure we are experiencing. Further, we may be uncertain about what we’re supposed to be doing – we want to be productive, but we’re not sure how to maximize our time and talent. It’s ironic that, in fact, we may be offering a personal “great performance” but everyone around us is buried in their world and no one notices the beautiful music we’re playing…
I think it’s very difficult for organizations to create environments that engage people. Too often, leaders make the mistake of using past paradigms to define modern work cultures. There’s a classic definition of “productivity” that speaks to how many widgets can one person produce in a given period of time. The problem is that definition doesn’t translate well to today’s largely knowledge based workforce. The best organizations are those that are finding ways to create cultures that appreciate unique human performance.
Is your company considering the amount of time people have to “be human” at work? Are the people you work with focused on the present and aware of what’s happening in their space? Do the people in your organization understand what they should be seeing and can they translate that into personal success?
A well designed Recognition and Reward System (RRS) can help support cultures that value time, presence and context. When a company gets those things right, there is a great chance that many Joshua Bells will be discovered playing right in front of you.
Organizational Listening
A common phrase in corporate people strategy discussions is “employee engagement”. Every company is unique and will have their own approach to the issue, but the intent of all companies is to create an environment where the employees of the organization perform at the highest level possible. Lots of thinkers, authors and consultants are creating content that provides insight and direction on the issue of engagement.
I prefer the approach Dan Pink has popularized – Autonomy, Mastery and Purpose (the acronym even works – AMP). Hire the right people into a well defined job and expect them to perform, give them the support and tools to become best in class at what they do and then ensure they understand and appreciate why what they do matters to the organization. Makes sense, right?
But even if your company perfectly practices and executes that strategy, how do you know when “employee engagement” happens?
Many companies use an employee survey to discover what trends are developing and where employee’s heads are relative to the employment value proposition offered by the company. Great tool – but a pretty blunt instrument as it’s generally an annual exercise and things can change faster than that and, because humans are involved, getting to the root of what people think is just plain complicated. Here’s another idea…
“Listen” to what employees are saying by watching their behaviors. You can do this by using the data generated by your company’s Recognition and Reward System to spot trends and watch what people are doing within the stated culture of the organization. What’s being recognized? Who is doing the recognizing? What’s the financial performance within the groups most active within the RRS? Do you see geographic trends? Seasonal trends? When internal communication goes up/down do you see a response? There are many more things you can evaluate, but you see the point.
Don’t have an RRS that generates actionable data? You’re missing an opportunity to “listen” every day to what your people are saying.
Reducing Fear in a Human Organization
Economic cycles come and go (thankfully for those of us living through the current challenges!). Based on who you believe, these cycles are caused by politics, Wall Street bankers, demographic change, corporate greed, growing global influences, the whims of Warren Buffet and/or Bill Gates or some combination of the above orchestrated by an evil consortium of naughty world leaders. Personally, I think it’s some mixture of this list minus the naughty world leaders.
When economic times are difficult, people react in fairly predictable ways. The most common reaction is fear. Fear impacts us in complex ways and is generally a damaging emotion. On occasion, fear can serve a positive purpose – it can motivate and focus us – but it only works for short periods of time and is generally a bad motivational tool because people will do all they can to avoid putting themselves in fearful situations. The current economic situation is especially tough because we can’t know when things will get better and we’re not sure how we’ll be impacted going forward.
Fear can be reduced at work when employees have an understanding of what is expected of them and how those expectations translate to success for themselves and for the company. One of the tools that can be used to clarify expectations in the workplace is a Recognition and Reward System that is designed to cover all job descriptions in the organization. So, while there still may be general economic uncertainty outside the walls of the company, within the sphere of what an individual can control there can be confidence that doing good work leads to a positive outcome. When a well-designed RRS is in place, fear is reduced and people are put in a position to be happier and more productive.
Recognition and Reward Systems as a Tactic
Organizations have Employee Engagement strategies that contain many components – compensation, benefits, job description, physical environment, culture, learning management, recognition and reward… All of these components are created in the context of where the organization wants to go and what current business circumstances will allow. Yes – there is a strategy for each of these employee engagement ingredients, but the ingredients by themselves will not solve for much – they have to operate in conjunction with everything else in order to have impact.
The RRS is a big deal and can have a significant impact on employee behaviors and, ultimately, organizational engagement. But it’s not THE deal – it’s an interesting and high profile tactical tool. As you evaluate your RRS, it’s critical that you consider your organization’s engagement strategy. It can be fun and seductive to create a really cool RRS that has lots of bells and whistles – but if it doesn’t support where your company is headed, that really cool program might be a bust.
Engaging Young Leaders in Herat, Afghanistan
I recently traveled to Herat, Afghanistan to work with young leaders in that community. Most of the work involved teaching
leadership principles and conflict resolution. Apart from that, I spent some time with individuals and small groups discussing business specific issues. The people I worked with were a mix of recent university graduates, business executives, managers and academic leaders. It was fun getting to know them and to work on issues that were important to them and to the area where they live.
Three pictures tell the story of the trip
I experienced a great deal of shared interests between me and the students I worked with. Immediately diving in to important issues came naturally and, though there were differences of opinion at times, the differences were enlightening and added to the group’s experience. Because of the cultural differences, everyone had to make the effort to engage in a discussion that was different than normal – initially uncomfortable, ultimately rewarding.
A Taliban terrorist group exploded a bomb outside a building occupied by an Italian organization doing relief work in the area. It happened to be just a few doors down from where we were working and living. People were killed and injured and it was awful to experience. I couldn’t get over the contrast in what the group I was involved in was doing and the destruction that was being created, literally, next door.
Even after the craziness of “bomb day”, the students we were working with still wanted to meet and, by the next day, we were able to find a venue that worked well enough to continue and complete the week’s work. Somewhere in this crowd, perhaps, is the future leadership that can help this part of the world stabilize. It’s impossible to know what will happen with these individuals and with their country – but where there is willingness to engage in discussion and to stretch individual perspectives, there is hope that positive change can occur.
The Power of Symbolic Recognition
I’m a proud Dallas Mavericks fan and I’m thrilled to see them win their first NBA Championship. I loved seeing the drive and the emotion that the Mavs players had throughout the playoffs – these are very highly paid professionals but, clearly, they were playing for much more than money. The Mavs owner – Mark Cuban – is famous for…well…doing things differently. He’s had huge success following that path and I’m not surprised that he’s thinking about doing something different than the traditional Championship Ring. Based on what his players are saying, Mark might want to reconsider… Here’s an excerpt from this morning’s Fort Worth Star Telegram –
DALLAS — Mark Cuban is toying with the idea of giving his players something else other than a ring as a memento for winning this year’s NBA championship.
The only problem is: His players and coaches want a ring.
“We’ve got to talk to him about that,” forward Dirk Nowitzki said. “I don’t think the last word has been spoken yet. He always wants to do something different, wants to do something bigger, but the ring is just so classic.”
The Dallas Mavericks and coach Rick Carlisle said if Cuban wants to give them something else — including the ring — they’ll accept it. But if they had their druthers, the ring is what turns them on.
“As a player and a historian of the game, you want the ring,” guard Jason Terry said. “You look at the Sports Illustrated cover of Bill Russell holding those (11 championship) rings, you see Phil Jackson’s (11 championship rings). You want that ring; that means a lot. “That’s the thing that you go to your grave with.”
If the players and coaches get a vote of the ring issue, Cuban would be out-voted by a landslide.
“I think I would vote for a ring,” Nowitzki said. “I’m a man. I don’t know how I’ll feel about a bracelet. So I’d rather go with the ring.”
Mavericks players wouldn’t step on the court without being well compensated. But once that box was checked, they focused on competing to win an NBA Championship. And now they want the symbol of that accomplishment.
When you’re designing your organization’s Recognition and Reward System, don’t forget to create symbolic awards that will tell the story of the achievement over and over.
As Jason Terry said, “That’s the thing that you go to your grave with”
A Picture of Maslow
I took this photo while leaning out a car window during a business trip to Kurdistan (Northern Iraq).
I like to ride bikes and, generally, notice fellow cyclists wherever I happen to be (though I don’t always take pictures of them…creepy…). This shot happened because I was shocked when I saw cyclists in Kurdistan that looked like the guys I ride with in the states. People ride bikes for transportation all over the world – but guys in lycra on high end racing bikes? That tells me something different…
I wasn’t paying attention to the background when I took the photo, but it’s clearly new construction – which I’ve seen all over Erbil. So what’s significant about a lycra clad peloton riding past new construction in Northern Iraq? This…
When safety is assured and relative prosperity is in place (food, shelter, sustaining income, defined community) people will look to personal interests in their search for individual significance.
Five years ago, this shot could not have been taken in this area because of armed conflict, little economic activity and horrid roads. Currently, this part of Iraq is experiencing political stability and an economic boom and the population is enjoying an opportunity they’ve not seen in decades – the opportunity for free self-expression of personal interests. The opportunity won’t come without the pain of transformational effort – it’s much easier to build structures and buy bikes than it is to engage people and maintain the momentum that sustains growth – but guys in lycra and new construction tell me that things are looking pretty good in this part of Iraq.
There’s a message here for any organization. It’s a great “culture check” to scan the people you work with and see what they’re doing with their lives. Companies want their people to be engaged at work and people are more likely to be engaged at work if they are happy outside work. Common sense? Sure, but consider what an organization can do to add to an individual’s work experience that may enable greater overall life enjoyment. Flex hours? A well designed Recognition and Reward System? Greater personal control of how work gets done? There’s a long list of possibilities, but anything a company can do to acknowledge individual’s desire to lead holistic lives is fair game.
Be purposeful about creating an environment that not only enables efficient work but also accommodates non-work interests. When you do that, your people will feel the freedom to live “whole lives” and you’ll gain from greater levels of individual engagement.
Warren Holmgreen
This is me and a new friend – Warren Holmgreen.
My wife, Catherine, and I met Warren when we stopped for a burger while on vacation in the Texas Hill Country. Warren drove up in a blast of gravel and dust – both in ample supply at the joint where we stopped – hopped out of his van and walked in to order his burger and fries. Catherine and I were sitting outside and I noticed the slogan on the side of his van, “I Sharpen Anything That Cuts”. I challenge you to create a more perfectly succinct elevator pitch.
As it happens, Warren was in the mood to sit outside as well and soon took a seat a few tables away from us. When you’re in a small town in Texas, you just talk to people – so we talked to Warren.
Pretty quickly, he moved his meal over to our table and continued telling a series of stories that were some of the most interesting I’ve ever heard. Warren is sort of a walking book (maybe 50 pages or so), so I’ll hit the highlights and then close with what struck me most:
- Born and raised in far south Texas
- Grew up in a musical family and sang with his mom
- WW II B-24 pilot
- Post war pilot trainer
- Held down various jobs while raising 4 kids
- After the kids were out of the house, he traveled the country in a trailer with his wife working for insurance companies as an adjuster.
A while back, Warren’s wife got sick and they needed to stop traveling. To continue to earn a living, Warren went back to a skill he learned while growing up around his dad’s machine shop – knife sharpening. He’s got all the tools he needs in his van and he travels to his Hill Country clients (mostly restaurants) and quickly sharpens the tools of their trade. You’ve probably figured out that Warren is closer to the end of his career than the beginning (by the way, he’s the guy on the right in the above pic). He’s actually 86 and still works full time.
Here’s the cool thing – Warren has always liked to sing. Instead of telling us about it, he just started singing as we sat on the porch of the burger joint in Waring, Texas. He belted out a Harry Connick, Jr song, “The Man in the Moon is Smiling”. Not just a few bars…the whole song. Turns out he’s taking his “music box” and going to sing for a group of folks that live in Fredericksburg at a place that Warren called, “the old folks home”. It’s the first time he’s performed in public (I guess not counting his impromptu song for my wife and me) and he’ll be doing it the week of the one year anniversary of his wife’s passing.
When I’ve reached the number of years on this earth that Warren has, I hope I still look at life with the perspective he has – hopeful, engaging, aggressive and fun.
5/11 Edit… Here’s a segment of a note I got from Warren after I shared this post with him…
I had no idea I had an inspirational bone in my body, but I learned long ago that “attitude is everything” and I guess that is why I make friends easily. I also believe I know what love is….probably the most valuable realization of my life, in my opinion. I enjoyed our brief meeting very much.
God Bless, Warren
Re-Defining the “McJob”
McDonald’s is hiring – 50,000 people – in one day.
Definition of MCJOB : a low-paying job that requires little skill and provides little opportunity for advancement (Webster’s)
McDonald’s catches a lot of flak for different reasons – that happens when you’re the market leader in your space – but they’re making a strong statement about their employment proposition and I think good things will happen. McDonald’s is putting a lot of effort into communicating the value of working in their restaurants and raising the perception of what it means to work there. Of course, in any organization, the effort has to be sincere and the promises made pre-hire, whether specific or implied, need to match the experience post-hire; otherwise things can fall apart. I bet McDonald’s gets this part right…
Here’s a link to the career page on McDonald’s website. I think they are very clear about what they offer and how employees benefit. It is especially interesting to see the percentage of their current restaurant managers as well as their franchisees that came from “MCJOB” ranks (75% and 50% respectively). Jan Fields, President of McDonald’s US, started her career in a McDonald’s restaurant making french fries
http://www.mcdonalds.com/us/en/careers/working_here.html
The Miller Company will be going to lunch at our local McDonald’s tomorrow to support the effort. We thought it was cool that they’re being purposeful about communicating why working at McDonald’s can be a very good thing and we wish them well…
We’ll see people being hired – some of them may be the future leaders of McDonalds.
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