Importance of Recognition

Lately, I’ve been noticing that when I watch TV, at some point in the program there will be a trophy or several trophies in the scene.  Usually it’s in the background. Sometimes is the subject of a conversation. Same goes for movies.

Last weekend my husband and I were taking a walk through the neighborhood and saw an Open House, so we went in for a peak.  Admit it, you do it too. In two of the rooms, there were shelves of trophies along with pictures documenting a child’s baseball career.

Trophies are everywhere.  It makes sense.  If you earn an award, you want everyone to know about it.  I know that I have my Chili Cook-Off 1^st place trophy on my desk at work. And if I happen to get a phone call from a customer looking for Chili Cook-Off awards, I tell them they are talking to the right person.

Businesses you frequent will proudly display awards they have earned so you know they are the best at what they do. Athletic teams display trophies and banners. My kids’ high school had an impressive trophy case dating back many years.  Most cities ask their citizens to vote on ‘The Best of (insert city name here) Awards’ every year, then the winner’s names are printed in the local paper and awards are presented.

Nobel Prize for Physics and Chemistry

Winning an award can pump up your salary. Think Heisman, Rookie of the Year, Oscar, or even Salesperson of the Year in your company. The Nobel Peace Prize includes a monetary prize, a diploma and a gold medal.  Pulitzer Prizes are given for a range of achievements in journalism, writing (fiction, non-fiction and poetry) and music. The list of award opportunities is endless.

The thing is, trophies represent something important.  Accomplishment, success, winning, achievement are all words we associate with awards.  Being the best at something, no matter if it’s the team MVP, a spelling bee finalist, Nobel Prize winner, or the top sales of the quarter, is a big deal.

We all want recognition.  We want to know that what we do matters.  And when we  receive recognition, we want others to know about it too.  It makes us feel accomplished, connected, leaves a lasting impression and it makes us work even harder to earn more kudos.

So here’s to your accomplishments. Here’s to your trophies and awards!

If you’re proud of an award you’ve received, post a picture on www.Facebook.com/trophies2go.

Blessings,

Anne

Awards Can Bring Tears to Your Eyes

At Trophies2Go, our goal is to provide meaningful recognition and to have our awards bring tears of happiness.   We want the person who receives your award to be absolutely thrilled in the moment, overcome with joy to be honored by YOU. 

Speechless, they are so touched that they tear up, and have to dab the corners of their eyes as they figure out what to say. They clutch their award for the rest of the event, get their picture taken with it, and find a very special place of honor to display it proudly.  Each time they see their award for weeks, months, and even years to come, they are transported back to that very special moment.  Our awards stand the test of time.

So how do we choose awards that will last, keeping the memory of that accomplishment alive?    At Trophies2Go, we don't actually manufacture the awards we sell.  We buy them or their award parts from our suppliers.  Many awards come in pieces that we must build.  Once the trophy is assembled, we carefully engrave a custom message on each one.  We go through a very specific process of choosing our products from our premium suppliers.

For the next few weeks, I will be focused on 4 of our suppliers  - what makes their products unique, why we do business with them, and why you should care.  We've also created short videos where we interview our suppliers about what makes them special, and you'll get a chance to see them soon.

Just like you, we honor excellence.  Each December we choose a 'Supplier of the Year' and a 'Product of the Year' to recognize those suppliers and products that go 'above and beyond' to make a difference in our customers' lives.  We are so honored to do the work we do - to make special moments even more meaningful!

Cheers, Jessica

We are members of a great organization called Recognition Professionals International. I recently read these FAQs on their site regarding budgeting for a recognition program.  I think you’ll find them helpful.

 Q. What is an average budget for a Recognition Program?

What is the goal of your Recognition Program?

This varies by company.  I would recommend benchmarking what other companies in your industry or other companies of your size are doing. Any award program vendor should be able to provide benchmarking data like this.
Greg Boswell, O.C. Tanner, Inc.

This varies on what each company is establishing as its ultimate goal of the recognition program, the size of the company and its demographics, that is the beauty of recognition it can start small and grow with time and measurements of success!
Sandie Hodel, United Airlines, Inc

Very hard to answer. Ours is approx. $100 per person per year, but this includes funds for an annual recognition conference that only 500 attend each year.
Steve Richardson, Royal Bank of Canada

According to the benchmarking research I've seen, this figure can vary wildly. Some companies invest up to 2% of their payroll, others feel that .05 of 1% is sufficient. Some invest very little. One of the goals of RPI is to help establish some guidelines or standards but that data will have to be gathered over a period of time. A confidential format for sharing this information may make it easier to obtain.
Dee Hansford, Dee Hansford Consulting

Q. What factor is the basis for most Recognition Program budgets?

It really depends on your program objectives. Once again, consider what you'd like the program to accomplish and then work towards that goal.
Greg Boswell, O.C. Tanner, Inc.

Per capita.
Steve Richardson, Royal Bank of Canada

Smart companies are investing in recognition that drives performance and behaviors that further the mission and goals of the organization. Consequently, they are seeing bottom line results. I can tell you that while at Disney during the 25th Anniversary celebration, we saw a 15% increase in the Cast's satisfaction with day-to-day recognition by their immediate supervisors; an overall improvement of 32.6%. We saw correlating Guest satisfaction scores that were very high and showed a strong intent to return, which directly impacted the bottom line. After working with CalPERS for two years, we have seen their recognition scores improve 19%; productivity is increasing, as are customer satisfaction scores.
Dee Hansford, Dee Hansford Consulting

Last month I wrote about Heroes for the Homeless, the organization we are partnering with for the 1^st quarter of 2013.  Each quarter we chose a new organization to work with because we believe in the Power of Recognition, and we want to recognize how people do truly amazing things to serve others.  Heroes for the Homeless serves up to 700 individuals every month, providing food, water, hygiene supplies, clothing, tents, sleeping bags, and information on how to access social services. We think that is deserving of some recognition!

IHS Key Club making PBJs

There are some great ways to recognize an organization like Heroes for the Homeless.  Here’s what we do.  Maybe you have some additional ideas you could share?

Make a financial contribution to support the great work they do. We will make a donation to Heroes for the Homeless at the end of the first quarter based on the sales of specific awards.  Check out those awards here.   We have some great basketball trophies if your kids are finishing up their season soon, consider these awards to make a donation.

Spread the word about who they are and what they do so more people can support and recognize them. We use this blog, our Facebook posts, Twitter @AwardsGuru, and more to promote the organization we partner with.  Our hope is that this will increase awareness of their cause and nudge others to support them as well.

Join them in their efforts. If possible, our employees try to be involved with them also.  Last fall, Jessica and Janice volunteered for the Susan G Komen 3-Day Walk in Seattle. They were on hand to pass out t-shirts to the finishers. I know they felt privileged to be a part of recognizing the walkers for their accomplishments.

Janice and Jessica at the Susan G Komen 3-Day

And in January we hosted a PBJ party. A group of Issaquah High School Key Club volunteers, a handful of girl scouts and some of our employees got together, and with generous donations from our local community, we made 625 peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for Heroes for the Homeless. Our owner, Jeff Anderson, drove the sandwiches to Seattle very early the next morning so they could be distributed to the people that Heroes serve.  The kids who made the sandwiches have already asked me, ‘When can we do it again?’

We are still collecting new, warm socks and travel-sized toothpaste, shampoo, soap and other toiletries. If you are near Issaquah and have some you’d like to donate, please drop them by our showroom between 8:30-5:00 Monday – Friday through the end of March. 1320 NW Mall St, A-2, Issaquah, WA 98027.

Please visit the Heroes for the Homeless website.  To get a better idea of what exactly they do, watch their video, Walking With Heroes.  By the way, congrats to them for 'Spreading Love for More Than Six Years'.  They had their 100th Outreach on February 9, 2013!

We’d love to hear about the organizations that you support.  Feel free to post comments below.

Blessings, Anne

I wrote a blog article last December called Employee Engagement – not as hard as you think.  According to a recent Gallup Poll (Oct 2011) 71% of American workers are ‘not engaged’ or are ‘actively disengaged’ in their work.  In the blog I talked about things an employer or manager can do to help their employees be more engaged.  Ever since I wrote it, I’ve been wondering if there is another, equally critical, side to this issue.

What is Engagement?

Just as a refresher, what is employee engagement?  There is no shortage of articles and books to read on the subject.  According to Wikipedia, an engaged employee is one who is fully involved in, and enthusiastic about their work, and thus will act in a way that furthers their organization’s interests. Sounds like a great employee.

As an employer, how do you make sure your employees are engaged?  If you search for an answer, be prepared for the avalanche of opinions. They will range from ‘listen to your employees’, to ‘make them feel valued so they deliver value’, to ‘meet individual needs’. All, and much more, are critical in helping to engage your employees.

The Other Side

I’m curious though.  What if we looked at employee engagement from the employee’s viewpoint? What would that look like?

As an employee, you should ask yourself, how can I be more engaged today?  What can I do differently in my position today to make a difference in the company I work for?

Do you feel connected to the company’s mission and values?  Do you know what they are?  If not, find them, print them out, and post them in your workspace. Figure out how to connect with them.  There has to be a way, or you wouldn’t still be in the job you’re in.

Next, ask yourself, what motivates me? Is it salary, recognition, position, time off?  Figure it out and tell your manager. Hopefully they’ve already asked.  But if not, tell them.

Ask your manager to help you reach your job and career goals. See that award on your co-worker’s desk from last quarter.  Ask your manager what you can do this quarter to earn that award.  Put a plan in place.  Break down the steps and go to work.  Want the corner office?  That may be a longer plan.  Even if it’s something you want 3-5 years down the road, a good manager should be able to help you identify the significant milestones you’ll need to reach in order to get there.

Yes, good companies know they should listen to you, their employee.  And they know they should be asking what motivates you to give your best, and then helping you to do just that.  But I think engagement needs to be a two-way street.  Don’t ask how is my company going to engage me?  When do I get a raise? Why does that person always get recognized?

What can you do today to make your company successful?

Instead ask, what do I need to do differently? How do I engage differently so that I can reach my goals?  What can I do today to help my company reach its goals and fulfill its mission?  If you figure that out and actually do it, the payoff and the feeling of accomplishment will be incredible. As I’m sure any individual on a winning sports team will tell you, being a part of something successful is a great feeling. Knowing you played a big role in making it successful is even better.

I’d like to repeat myself here: As an employee, ask yourself, how can I be more engaged today?  What can I do differently in my position today to make a difference in the company I work for?

Blessings, Anne