Building and Improving Celebrations
Celebrating achievement within an organization is critically important to the overall morale and environment of the team and the workplace. In order to properly motivate and inspire others to do their best, leaders must be able to recognize positive contributions and reinforce key achievements. Recognition is about acknowledging good results and reinforcing positive performance (Kouzes & Posner, 2008, p. 281). It is about reinventing and fostering an environment in which every individual is celebrated for their personal contributions.
In order to create an environment that creates a culture of celebrating personal contributions, there are two key practices that leaders must do: expect the best and personalize recognition (Kouzes & Posner, 2008, p. 281). Both of these key initiatives are critical when creating an environment of openness and appreciation of individual contributions to common goals and objectives.
A leader that expects the best of out their team will better motivate them and inspire them to do their very best on a consistent basis. Successful leaders demonstrate and show high expectations of both themselves and their teammates (Kouzes & Posner, 2008, p. 282). They understand that in order to achieve and excel expectations, they must successfully communicate high potential and hold everyone to this level of performance. A leader must also be able to bring the best out in their team members. All team members have potential and it is the goal of the leader to be able to tap into this potential and recognize the skills and qualities that the team member can implement into the workplace. Leaders have a way of identifying potential and bringing it out of their team.
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...n represents all of the key areas that my organization implements into the business in an effort to celebrate achievement. Specific to corporate sponsored programs would be the anniversary shout outs, weekly company newsletters, weekly inspirational conference calls, and company awards centered on such performance indicators as sales, KPI matrixes, customer service, and loss prevention. As a leader, I have incorporated my own incentives such as store centralizes contests, team luncheons and events to recognize store performance, and peer to peer recognition through verbal reinforcement and developmental meetings. These have all contributed very highly to my ability to reinforce positive behavior and celebrate achievements with my team.
References
Kouzes, J. & Posner, B. (2008). The leadership challenge. (4th Ed.). San Francisco, CA: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Response: Recognition is a big factors that helps with employee satisfaction and motivation. When an employee is excelling in their work and completing all goals and objectives, there hard work is recognized by means of gifts, announcements, and even the prime parking space at the organization.
In a business or a workplace, it is essential for the organization, which consists of the employers, the managers, and their employees, to work towards reward programs within the human resources in order to create a healthy and cordial work environment and most importantly, to efficiently achieve business’ goals. In Carol Patton’s (2013) article, Rewarding Best Behaviors, she explains the importance of several companies that are beginning to recognize their employees, not just for the end-results, but for reflecting good behaviors towards the business’ values, such as demonstrating creativity on certain projects, problem solving towards certain issues, and also collaborating with fellow co-workers. Patton stresses that these reward programs could help suffice the overall being of a company as long as the rewarded behaviors correlate with the corporate strategy. Patton expresses that some things human resources must comprehend include “how its company creates success, what drives its business strategy and what behaviors are needed from employees to achieve that success” (Patton, 2013 para. 15). Moreover, the employee would be reflected as a role model for others and perhaps influence them to demonstrate comparable behaviors.
Pierce, Jon L. and John W. Newstrom (2011) 6th edition. Leaders and the Leadership Process.
The first area identified for improvement is praising people for a job well done. Too many times I have passed on the opportunity to publicly recognize member either formally or informally for their efforts. From my point of view, when a task is assigned it is expected to be completed to the highest level of competency. Meeting this standard leaves little room for exemplary performance to be recognized. I intend to correct this by taking
Kouzes, J., & Posner, B., (2007). The leadership challenge, (4th ed.). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-
Recognition of contributions, and showing appreciation are ways for one to show others that they are held as respected members of a group. Arnold and Boggs (2011).
By reflecting on this and as I continue throughout my career, I concur with LTC Sewell’s article on self-awareness. As I continue to “understand, refine and often redefine” myself and improve articulating who I am to others, my aim is to improve myself, for the current and future organizations that may have the opportunity to be affiliated.
...r whole effort into it and they give above and beyond because they want the result to be good for results matter. The leader generates work that meet commitment and generate results that surpass and go above and beyond the normal requirement (Lord & Maher, 1991).
...rewarding behavior that allows the organization to thrive will in turn increase positive progress. These two philosophies, when followed, strengthen the foundation of any organization.
315), motivating other is to give recognition and praise can be thought as directly placing a positive reinforcement, that is reinforcing the adequate behavior by giving an award. A strong motivator is recognition because it is a regular human need. DuBrin (2013, p. 316), an outstanding of recognition, which include praise, as a motivator it that it is no cost or low cost yet powerful. Bob Nelson, a reward expert, reminds us that money is important to employees and recognizing others motivates them to elevate his or her performance. It has a huge return on investment in comparison to a cash bonus. DuBrin (2013, p. 318), according to equity theory, employee motivation and satisfaction depend on how properly the employees believe they are treated in comparison to peers. The theory debates that employees have certain beliefs about the outcomes they receive from their jobs, as well as the inputs they invest to obtain these outcomes. This theory has many implications for the leader who attempts to motivate subordinates. No matter how well a program productivity or cost-cutting is, it needs to still provide equitable pay. Also, the leader needs to see that subordinates perceive themselves to receive a fair deal in terms of what they give to and receive from the company. DuBrin (2013, p. 320), effective leaders are good coaches and good coaches are effective
Incentive reward engagement offers a win-win situation for the employees and the company. Kelleher believes that incentive is a form of recognition and builds engagement through company’s and employee’s obligations towards a common goal (2014). The company has a “Growth Incentive Scheme” for the production workers. Special monetary incentives are provided should the workers achieve the monthly output target. Through the rewards, employees feel motivated towards their work and thus, contribute towards the company’s
The practices of a leader can have wide spread implications. They can impact individual stakeholders and the organization as a whole. Clark (2013) states that “you must be the role model you want others to grow into” (para. 9). A strong leader leads by example, is ethical, and earns the trust and respect of their followers. They are also conscientious of the impact they have on the world around them. They practice impeccable communication and learn to inspire others with a positive vision for the future. Clark (2014) describes leadership as the methods of influencing others to accomplish objectives in a collective manner in the direction of the organization's vision.
Kouzes, J., & Posner, B. (2008). The leadership challenge. 4th ed. San Francisco, CA Jossey-Bass. ISBN: 9780787984915
Whether or not employees feel valued in their contribution to the workplace is one of the most important factors in their overall perception of their company as a great place to work. In fact, among the “100 Best Companies to Work For” recognized by Fortune (2014), an employee’s sense of their value through strategies such as recognition programs and performance incentives, is more closely associated with their experience of a great workplace than factors such as competent leadership, unique benefits, and even fair pay. However, while programs designed to promote employees sense of value can drive an organization towards success and promote a strong company culture, the performance-based culture of the modern business world can push leadership personnel to inadvertently fall into a pattern of behavior, or “Pittfalls of Leadership”, that leaves their employees feeling as if they don’t matter.
Lussier, R.N. & Achua, C.F. (2010). Leadership: Theory, application, skill development (5th ed.). Mason, OH: South-Western.