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The Power of I's: No-Cost On-The-Job Recognition That Works

"Praise and simple gestures of sincere thanks are important to employees today, but there are many other things that can be incorporated into the job itself to acknowledge an individual and make him or her feel special, such as:

• Interesting and important work.  At least part of every job must be of high interest to an employee.
• Information/communication/feedback.  Make sure there are ample channels of communication to encourage employees to ask questions, and get and share information.
• Involvement in decisions/ownership.  People closest to the problem or customers typically have the best insight into how a situation can be improved.
• Independence/autonomy/flexibility.  When you make your decision and communicate your intentions to provide these things to employees based on their performance, you increase the likelihood that they will perform as desired, and bring additional initiative, ideas, and energy to the job as well.

• Increased visibility/opportunity/responsibility.  Everyone appreciates a manager who gives credit where it is due (Nelson & Spitzer, 2002, p. 87)."

Reference:  Nelson, B. & Spitzer, D.  (2003) The 1001 rewards & recognition field book.  New York: Workman Publishing.

Does your organization have the power of I's?

The 1001 Rewards & Recognition Field Book is available on loan from the Ohio State University Leadership Center.  To borrow this resource or any other resource please go to the resource search page http://140.254.85.212/winnebago/search/search.asp?lib

If this is the first time you have borrowed resources from the OSU Leadership Center, please contact us at 614-292-3114 and we will register you in our library system.  Once you have been added to the system, you may request resources via the website.

Learn how the Ohio State University Leadership Center is strengthening tomorrow's leaders today at http://leadershipcenter.osu.edu

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Created: 2008-04-02, Updated: 2008-11-12