My Friend Mark!

More words of wisdom from my friend Mark Twain...

One should not pay a person a compliment and straightway follow it with a criticism. It is better to kiss him now and kick him next week.
- Inscription written on fly leaf of Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Reported in Kansas City Star, April 10, 1911, p. 6.

Recognition in Paris

If you happen to be in Paris on November 10th, you should join me at VPHR’s conference on recognition at work!

A few of my colleagues will be speaking about the impact of recognition in the workplace.

However, I should warn you, my presentation will be in French. And this warning not only stands for my English participants – but my French ones as well! LOL!

So if you’re willing to bear with me, I invite you to some very Parisian recognition time!
Click here for more info!

Starting Over After 42 Years!

Recognition Professionals International’s 2nd Best Practice is to have senior management buy into your company’s recognition strategy. In fact, Recognition Professionals International deems this so important that it is an essential ingredient for a Best Practice program.

At Rideau, we are very lucky. The chief architect of our recognition strategy in Roy Saunderson. Roy is the president and founder of the Recognition Management Institute, a division of Rideau. My senior management team, many whom are CRP grads support our strategy and lead by example.

But I’m proud to say that Rideau goes even further. Our Board of Directors help management walk the talk. For example, this summer, we had our annual service award ceremony and the entire Board of Directors attended the event. Indeed, some were even recognized for their years of service to the company. Jay Whitehead and Brenna Garratt both celebrated service anniversaries. Gord Feeney and Governor Arne Carlson, our Chairman and Vice Chair both celebrated 5 year anniversaries and participated in our ceremonies as recipients.

I had a bit of fun with Gord Feeney… he worked for 42 years for RBC Financial Group, Canada’s largest company with 80,000 employees. Gord ended up in the number two spot as the Bank’s Vice Chairman. Gord always wears his 40 year RBC service pin with pride. It is a beautiful pin and features four diamonds. Of course, when Gord got his 5 year Rideau service pin he took off the RBC pin and replaced it with his 5 year Rideau pin… sadly, it only featured one lonely ruby. I told Gord no bother… in another 35 years his Rideau pin would feature 4 diamonds!

Seriously, getting management buy in is essential. But if you can, get your Board involved too. It sets a powerful example!

Weekly Art from the Hart

Memories of España

Innovative Ways to Drive Employee Loyalty

On October 21st at 2 pm, I will be presenting with a group of very interesting panelists at Virtual Incentive World.

We will be talking about ways to drive employee loyalty. My fellow panelists are Will Ng, Incentive Magazine Managing Editor and Lerzan Aksoy, co-author of “Why Loyalty Matters,” a great book which I happen to be reading right now!

Hope to virtually see you there!

Register here!

Let’s Hear it for a Recognition Bill of Rights!

I love history because it teaches us so much. Not only about the past, but about today as well as the future… who hasn’t heard the expression, “history repeats itself?”

One very interesting document I’ve read is America’s Bill of Rights. It contained the first ten amendments to the US Constitution and was introduced by James Madison. It came into effect in 1791 and became a model for many other countries that passed bills outlining individual rights.

That got me thinking… there ought to be a Recognition Bill of Rights for the workplace.

My Recognition Bill of Rights would start out with a preamble that states all employees should be treated with respect and dignity in the workplace.

It would articulate that employees should be appreciated for who they are and what they do.

It would go on to affirm that recognition should not be left to the discretionary whims of managers.

It would declare that recognition in the workplace is a “right” for everyone in the workplace!

Recognition from the Hart

Employers Web published my new article on trade shows. Click here to learn about how to get the most out of these conventions!