How to Ensure Formal Award Programs Build Team Resilience

The author presenting an award at the U.S. Consulate Kolkata

In a recent resilience training session, several employees told me they did not feel appreciated by their leadership because they had not had an award ceremony in several years. While the organization gave awards, employees were disappointed that certificates appeared on their desks with no formal presentation.

The organization's leadership, however, had a different view. They felt that employees viewed awards as an entitlement, not as a reward for work above and beyond the norm. They thought employees were overlooking and undervaluing the appreciation they had received in other forums.

This tension highlights a frequent debate surrounding awards and employee recognition programs. While research shows that affirmation, feedback, and reward motivate employees to do their best work, many people strongly dislike formal award programs. While award ceremonies have a positive impact in some organizations, in other offices they may lead to lower instead of higher morale.

I suspect that concerns about award programs arise when leadership has stumbled into one or more award pitfalls. When this happens, morale can suffer, and team resilience may erode. Here are some of the most common pitfalls:

Common Award Pitfalls

• Lack of fairness and transparency: When awards are not fair and transparent, employees become bitter and cynical. To avoid this pitfall, communicate award guidelines widely. Be impartial and transparent when applying the rules. If an employee expects an award, have a conversation about why and be open to finding award-worthy performance that isn't obvious. If you believe an award is not warranted, don't submit an award nomination. Instead, clearly explain your reasoning and what the employee can do in the future to earn the recognition.

• High performers are overlooked: When leadership overlooks high performers, some may become less motivated. Be generous with awards and ensure that managers take the time needed to submit nominations for their best performers. If a manager consistently neglects to nominate employees, have a performance management discussion with that supervisor. Explain that failure to recognize and reward strong performers will negatively impact the office, and you expect the manager to nominate deserving employees for awards. A clear message from leadership regarding expectations can be powerful.

• Poor performers receive awards: When poor performers receive awards, it devalues the awards for everyone else. Staff morale will often go down when leadership recognizes individuals who are widely seen as undeserving, self-serving, toxic, or too absorbed in stroking the boss without performing. Or, they are known to engage in behaviors that violate organizational norms and values (e.g., people who engage in discriminatory or harassing behavior). Managers need to resist pressure to nominate and approve awards for these known poor performers.

• Low budgets: When budgets are tight, some organizations may reduce the number of awards they issue. While it is always nice to get money with an award, public recognition for work well done is also impactful. It is better to give more awards for less money each than limit the number of awards. During or after a crisis, consider granting more awards than usual to acknowledge the challenges employees experienced.

• A rushed award ceremony: While many of us find award ceremonies to be tedious and lengthy, the only thing worse than a ceremony that is too long is a ceremony that is too short. Bringing people together and then rushing events can feel insulting and give the impression that leadership is not committed enough to give their time to the event. Read the citations, take time for photos, and properly thank employees for their contributions. Find ways to keep the ceremony from dragging on without cutting the essential aspects of employee recognition ceremonies. Skimping on food demonstrates that leadership does not believe people are worth the expense. Don't be lavish or wasteful, but provide quality food that doesn't run out.

Why Have an Award Ceremony?

Given these pitfalls, it can be tempting to scrap a formal award ceremony. In doing so, you may lose an opportunity to strengthen your team’s resilience. If you put in place systems and structures that avoid the risks, award ceremonies can foster team resilience in the following ways:

• Demonstrate commitment: By taking the time to write an award nomination, managers demonstrate their commitment to employees. Time is precious, so taking the time to nominate someone for even a minor award sends a message that the person is worth your time. I often nominated employees for competitive awards and showed them the nomination, even when I was not confident they would be selected.

• Show consideration: Public recognition is a great way to show consideration to employees. While a private "thank you" is useful, public recognition has the added benefit of demonstrating to the entire team how much senior managers value people in the organization. Award ceremonies provide an open forum for leaders to signal to employees that their organization cares about and appreciates them.

• Create one culture: Award ceremonies build one culture by identifying "organizational heroes," individuals and groups who embody the organization's core values. Reading award citations aloud tells the organization's story, and hearing about the work award recipients have done can inspire others.

• Build connections: Once we can have in-person award ceremonies again, they can be enjoyable social events that build relationships between team members. Since they are organization-wide, it provides an opportunity for employees to make social connections with colleagues in other parts of the organization and across hierarchies.  

• Increase coordination: A public event that highlights the work of different organizational components helps employees stay in sync and work toward common goals. When awards are linked to organization-wide goals, it encourages employees to view their work as part of a larger whole.

What are your thoughts on award ceremonies? What pitfalls have you experienced, and how have award ceremonies improved your team's resilience?

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To learn more about how you and your team can thrive in adversity, visit my website, and follow me on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. And, check out my online Resilience Leadership course.

How to Stay in Sync When Your Organization is Spread Out

Photo by Bill Oxford on Unsplash

One of the 7Cs of team resilience is coordination, which means aligning your priorities and actions to be in sync across your organization.

It is easy for an organization to get out of sync if it has offices in many different locations. The most common challenge for dispersed organizations is the disconnect between the realities of a field office and the view from headquarters.

Organizations will be more resilient and productive if field offices and headquarters actively work to stay in sync as much as possible. Here are some suggestions for keeping headquarters and field offices in sync:

Clarify Organizational Goals

Without clear goals, offices may find themselves going in different directions or even working at cross purposes. Tension often develops when headquarters has a different perception of their goals than the field offices. If this is the case, work with colleagues to clarify mission goals and ensure you have a shared understanding of these goals.

Create Working Groups

If you have shared problems across the organizations, create working groups to develop possible solutions. Draw employees from various work units, positions, and locations. Encourage members to be open and share multiple perspectives, working through conflict and differences to reach a unified way forward.

Build Connections

Use technology to develop relationships across the various offices. Find reasons for colleagues to travel and spend time in the same physical location once it’s safe to be together. Headquarters staff should visit field offices regularly. When people know and understand each other, they are more likely to work through conflict rather than blame each other when things don't go well. When we know each other, we see each other as human beings instead of titles/positions.

We Are Where We Sit

We all see the world from our unique perspective based on where we sit. Someone in headquarters will perceive an issue differently than a field office employee simply because they sit in different places. For example, headquarters may feel the pressure of the 24/7 news cycle more acutely and, therefore, be more demanding in requesting information from a field office, which is more focused on day-to-day work. Recognizing that no one is "right" and seeking to understand other perspectives will help everyone find the best approach in the long run.

It’s Better to Be In Sync Than right

Avoid the temptation to stubbornly insist on your position despite opposing views, especially if you are a senior leader. I've seen well-intentioned leaders demand that employees accept their direction only to have them fight even harder to prove the leader wrong. Suppress the need to be right and work with colleagues to find a way forward that works for everyone.

Hierarchy Doesn’t Work

Resist the temptation to use positional power to demand coordination. When employees are forced to comply, they often find ways to undermine the effort. Hierarchy can also kill innovation and reduce productivity since staff will usually check with leadership for permission to do something. Instead, encourage all staff to become involved in developing shared goals and values so they are committed to staying in sync.

Talk to People

Given time zone differences and the realities of working in different places, it is not surprising that most communication between headquarters and field offices is via email. An email is a useful tool for many forms of communication, but when it becomes our only tool, communication will falter. We can resolve misunderstandings much more quickly when we talk to someone. Negotiations are much more effective in person. Never fight over email or messenger.

Manage Expansion

One of the reasons organizations struggle with coordination is that they expand very fast in numbers of employees and mission scope. Expansion breaks down systems and structures that need to be rebuilt or refined. If growth is too rapid, there is no time to develop new ways of staying in sync. It's better to slow down expansion efforts to ensure that systems are keeping pace. 

What has helped you stay in sync and minimize tensions between headquarters and field offices?

___________________________

To learn more about how you and your team can thrive in adversity, visit my website, and follow me on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. And, check out my online Resilience Leadership course.