Recognition Training is Useless…

Yes, you read it right! But let me explain.

It’s a question of putting the “why” before the “how” in terms of the recognition paradigm.

All too often we try and train managers “how” to recognize employees before they fully understand “why” they are recognizing them in the first place!

Simply put, we must educate managers “why” recognition is important before we train them “how” to do it.

In my experience there are three broad categories of recognition education:

1. There are those managers who understand the why and “get it” completely. They make recognition a part of their daily lives.
2. The second category consists of the managers who do recognize others in the workplace but do not consciously realize it.
3. The last group consists of managers who do not recognize others. They believe recognition has no value and create a variety of reasons not to use this strategic tool. More often than not, they don’t understand why recognition is important because they never experienced it themselves.

Obviously, recognition education must be tailored to suit the needs of each group but it is CRITICAL to educate managers “why” recognition is important before you start training them “how” to do it.

I believe recognition often fails because we have trained too many managers to go through the motions without understanding the real reasons why we do it. This understanding leads to Real Recognition… a phrase my friend and colleague Roy Saunderson coined many years ago.

More Help From Your Friends!

For many years I subscribed to an eZine called “The Real Recognition EZine.” It was written by a fellow called Roy Saunderson who was the founder and president of a company called the Recognition Management Institute.

From time to time, I would drop Roy a line commenting on an article or a thought he provoked on recognition.

Three years ago this month, Rideau decided to reach out to Roy and to this end, I asked my colleague Gord Green to call him. The next morning, I got a call from Roy asking if we could meet. I thought Roy was responding to Gord’s call, but to make a long story short he’d decided to reach out to us! Talk about Serendipity!

Roy did come to Montreal in the middle of a huge snow storm (the downside of living in here) and we hit it off immediately. So much so that we bought Roy’s company.

Today Roy helps companies around the world create better employee recognition strategies. He educates business leaders on why recognition is such an important management tool and trains managers how to use recognition effectively each and every day. Visit the Recognition Management Institute to learn more about Roy and his work.