My ‘thank you’ hierarchy

It always surprises me how effective recognition is, and there is tremendous variety in how you can give it. I have a hierarchy of recognition that I use depending upon the magnitude of the accomplishment.

The “Everyday”

For the everyday attaboy, I’ll try to run into the person casually (like in the hall) and speak a word of thanks. If it’s not someone I run into routinely, I’ll seek them out, and possibly follow-up with an e-mail. This only takes a few minutes, and might be one of a hundred e-mails you send in a day. But it might be the only thank you that the recipient has had all month, and it can be a powerful motivational tool.

Keeping it casual

For accomplishments that are a little more substantial, I send an e-mail with a cc list that is appropriate for the magnitude of the deed. For example, the recipient’s chain of command should be cc’d. For issues of significant impact I’ll also cc my boss and peers in the organization that I interact with (hey, I want some recognition, too!).

Kickin’ it up a notch

At the next level are accomplishments for which I’ll write a personal, handwritten thank-you note on nice stationery. I actually bought some of my own stationery so that it’s more personal than simply using the company letterhead. I don’t write many of these personal notes because I want to maintain their value by rarity. Handwritten notes are noticed precisely because almost no one writes anything longhand anymore, and the effort is often more appreciated because of it.

Full frontal commendation

At the next tier is the official letter of commendation. This is a typed letter, sent formally into the recipient’s chain of command on the organizational letterhead. These letters typically make it into employee files and become part of the official record of that employee’s performance. This type of recognition often pays off at review time in the form of the best of all possible bonuses: the raise.

And the winner is…

Above this tier is recognition with an artifact. My options here are cash awards (bonuses) and plaques or certificates, and I use them all depending upon the circumstance and the individual employee’s personality. Some people are motivated more strongly by public recognition than money; for them, a plaque is the way to go, and I usually find a function at which I can recognize the accomplishment in front of a wide audience.

The plaque option is also a good one when you want to recognize members of your team that don’t work directly for you: subcontractors, for example. Often you won’t have a direct path to impact their pay, but you can certainly offer them a plaque or certificate.

Some people, however, are more strongly motivated by money. For these folks, cash it is. An option to create a more public recognition from what is usually a private action (in most organizations salary actions are not discussed openly) is to create a certificate to go with the bonus and present that in an appropriate public forum.

Do it now

In order for any reward to stimulate further similar action it has to be close enough to the original act that the person associates the reward with the action. If you wait until the end of the year and have one big awards day when the accomplishment happened the preceding January, the recognition will be of little value in creating more of the good behavior you are acknowledging.

This post is inspired by material in my book, The Only Trait of a Leader.