Understanding the New Generation Worker

Want to learn how to win the talent crisis? Join my friend and colleague Gord Green on December 9th at Recognition Professionals International’s website for a webinar on “Understanding the New Generation Worker”!

Register for Gord’s webinar here!

Gord’s webinar will show you how to use recognition to win the War of Talent by better understanding the New Generation Worker.

I know the economy is a mess and unemployment is rising but this won’t last. By 2011, there’ll be a shortfall of 3 million workers between the projected workforce and the number of jobs required to keep the economy moving by 2016. Attracting and retaining talent is a no brainer anytime… especially millennials! Gord will teach attendees how to:
1. Use recognition to influence the relational value of your corporate culture
2. Use recognition for retention, recruitment and engagement
3. Motivate your new employees to align their behaviors to your corporate values!

Gord’s one of the foremost Thought Leaders and Program Strategists in the Recognition & Reward marketplace. He’s been instrumental in helping global corporations develop and maintain highly effective employee engagement solutions. He writes, lectures and is frequently quoted on recognition and reward strategies, behavioral alignment to brand strategy, maximizing employee engagement and tactical reward program implementation.

I hope you enjoy his webinar!

More Help From Your Friends

The Forum for People Performance Management and Measurement is another great place to visit and find research and educational studies.

The Forum was founded at the Department of Integrated Marketing Communications in the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University in Chicago.

Their research studies the various aspects of people performance management and measures their impact on organizational success. They are creating a curriculum based on research findings both for academic and professional use. Pick up some of their great white papers!

I’m proud of the fact that Rideau has helped fund the Forum’s research... since 2004 Rideau has been Recognition Professionals International’s forum sponsor.

The Greenest Awards in the World!

Rideau is doing its best to be socially responsible and green.

My brother Stephen heads up our CSR initiatives and some of his projects were recently featured in a French business weekly.

Anyways, the other day I had a meeting with a few of Rideau’s techies and the conversation turned to some of these green initiatives both internal and external. One of my young colleagues had a very interesting idea… he felt the best way of going green was to eliminate awards and use verbal praise in its place. That might be a bit radical for some, but it sheds an interesting light onto how Gen Y thinks.

Verbal praise is important. Use it!

The Evolution of Recognition

I'd love it if someone would write the history of the recognition industry.

If they did, it would have to come from two completely different aspects.

The first, would be from the perspective of Academics and OD types who realized that recognition played a key role in a person's individual well being and collectively, to the well being of an organization.

The second would be from the perspective of companies supplying recognition and reward programs. Many of these suppliers got into the business because they were seeking an outlet for their manufactured products.

I confess that my company was no different... we were a manufacturer of emblematic jewelry and corporate award programs were a great outlet for our products.

I think there was and still is a wide gulf between the two groups and is reflected by the fact that over 90% of corporations have recognition programs yet 60% of employees don't feel recognized.

There has been far too much focus on the material and not enough on the ethereal.

Fortunately people are starting to connect the dots. People like my colleague Roy Saunderson of the Recognition Management Institute and Christophe Laval of VPHR are teaching people that recognition is about feelings and emotions.

Recognition is Universal

I just returned from Paris where I attended the well attended launch of Christophe Laval's new book "Plaidoyer pour la reconnaissance au travail." Roughly translated "A Plea For Recognition in the Workplace."

You can purchase a copy of his book in French here.

The book provides useful research and is a great read particularly for those who are interested in understanding how recognition is viewed in France and other European countries.

Christophe speaks with authority on recognition. He comes from the industry and for the last several years has headed up "Entreprise et Personnel" which is the French equivalent of SHRM.

Christophe is Recognition Professionals International's first European CRP grad and understands the cultural and international nuances of recognition.

After the launch, Christophe and I participated on a panel and discussed some of those differences with the audience.

One thing is certain... Recognition has no boundaries and while it may be delivered differently from one country to another, it is truly a universal concept.

The Economy and Recognition

The world is a very different place than it was six months ago or for that matter three weeks ago.

People are losing their jobs and unemployment is rising. And it’s only going to get worse.

But if history has taught us anything, these things are cyclical. The economy will get better and people will go back to work.

What will not change is the fact that there will soon be more jobs than people to fill them. Demographics dictates this, not the economy.

But today's economic challenges do offer forward looking companies a great opportunity and that is to embed recognition into your corporate culture.

There is a lot of fear out there right now. Employees are not necessarily looking for pay increases but what they are looking for is open and honest communication. They need to know their work is being appreciated and this is where effective recognition strategies can play a huge role.

Recognition doesn't need to cost a lot. As I mentioned in a previous post, it starts with a name!

Reach out and engage your employees especially in these tough times.

Embed recognition into your culture. Make it part of your DNA and when things turnaround, your employees will remember and stay with you. Not only that, they will become your "recruiting" ambassadors.

George Washington didn't pay his band of revolutionaries a lot but if you study his management style you will see he gave them something far more valuable, he gave them recognition and hope. He turned them into patriots.

More Help From Your Friends!

Another great place to go for information is the Incentive Marketing Association.

This is the world's leading organization on incentives and incentive marketing.

This association is for providers only. Within the IMA there are a number of different Strategic Industry Groupings (SIGs).

Each SIG has a specific area of interest. For instance, there are geographic SIGs. European, Canadian and Australian members all have their own SIGs.

Then there are industry specific SIGs for companies who are focused on global programs, gift cards, performance etc.

I'm proud to have been a founder of the IMA's Recognition Council SIG last year and currently sit as its President. The IMA and each one of its SIGs are helping to enhance our industry and provide thought leadership.

While membership is closed to providers, the IMA website and those of its SIGs does provide valuable information in the form of white papers, articles and webinars open to the public.

Since I'm into shameless self-promotion I urge you to visit my SIG... http://www.recognitioncouncil.org/!

A Little Help From Your Friends

Couldn't we all use a little help from our friends?

The recognition and incentive industry has some super associations that you can use for research and unbiased third validation.

Over the next few weeks I'm going to spotlight several.

The first organization that comes to mind is Recognition Professionals International .

This international organization is dedicated to embedding recognition as a business strategy in companies large and small.

Its membership consists of practitioners and providers split about 75/25%.

It holds an annual sharing summit and has become famous for its Certified Recognition Professional (CRP) courses based on seven best practice recognition standards.

It also holds its annual Best Practice competition. This competition judges recognition programs, large and small, from all over the world against the seven best practice standards.

It also provides a ton of research and everyday common sense ideas. It has a wonderful sense of community... I should know! I, along with many of my Rideau colleagues have been members since 2001. Also in the spirit of full disclosure... I've been on RPl's board since 2004. And no, contrary to what my colleagues at Rideau think... I did earn my CRP certification!!!