(Time to read this Blog is about 3 ½ minutes)

Before we get to the main topic, here are a few things to get you thinking or smiling:

1. My Biz Quote of the week:
   “We should all take what we do seriously.  People are counting on us!  We just shouldn’t take ourselves so seriously.  We all need to lighten up.  The world needs more ‘silly’.  Less ‘stupid’…but more silly!”
   …Donald Cooper.
     
2. Quick Biz Tip:
   Everyone wants to feel ‘special’.  We all think that we’re special and we hate it when nobody else notices.  What will you do in 2024 to make your customers, prospects and staff feel more special?  Make a list and take action now!
    
3. How I can be helpful in 2024:   If you have an industry or company Conference coming up in 2024 where my bottom-line insights on management, marketing and profitability will be helpful, I’m easy to find at donald@donaldcooper.com. Our most requested topics are:
   1. ‘Accelerate Your Business…the ‘straight goods’ on how to sell more, manage smarter, grow your bottom line…and have a life.’
   2. ‘Create Your Compelling Service Advantage…how to amaze your customers, differentiate your business…and grow your bottom line!’
   3. ‘Winning the Talent Wars…8 essential steps to attracting, developing, leading & engaging a top-performing team.’
   4. “Getting Stuff Done…creating a culture of clarity, commitment, urgency & accountability!”  
   5. e‘Vision Critical…how to manage, innovate and thrive in a very different tomorrow!’
   6. ‘Succession Planning & Exit Strategies…preparing your business and yourself for the most important financial transaction of your life!’
       
      Most clients have me deliver 2 or more sessions, or one extended ‘Super Session’ at their event, which makes me very cost-effective in both speaking fee and travel cost, as I take the place of 2 speakers.
       
      Attendee comment from my most recent Conference session, “Best, most insightful, most ‘real’ management speaker we’ve had in 30 years!  His complete set of free Management Assessment & Implementation Tools is a huge bonus!”
       
4. Air Canada had the worst ‘on time’ record in North America for 2023. 140,000 Air Canada flights arrived late last year, which was 37% of the airline’s total flights. This was easily the worst on-time performance among major North American airlines.
    
5. The ‘Cranky Corner’. It might be my age, or it might just be that, just like you, some things tick me off!   Here’s what’s making me really cranky today.
    
   The Canadian Human Rights Commission, created by the Canadian Government in 1977, with broad judicial powers and fully funded by the federal government (that means ‘us’), has just declared that the celebration of Christmas is evidence of Canada’s “colonialist” religious intolerance.
    
   I can’t believe this crap!  I’d love to hear your opinion.

Now, to this week’s important topic:

The Many Faces of ‘Recognition’:

Employee recruitment, engagement and retention are the hottest topics in business today…and so they should be.  Extensive surveys by Gallup Research show that only 30% of U.S. employees are engaged at work, and a staggeringly low 13% worldwide are truly engaged. 

Gallup’s research also shows that 70% of employee engagement is related to their direct boss’s management style.  And ‘recognition’ by their boss is a huge factor.  So, below are my ‘6 recognition tips’ that might be helpful…

1.  A “Thank you.”  every day. You can’t get more simple than this.  We learned to say ‘thank you’ when we were kids…but so often forget it as bosses.  Research shows that one of the biggest reasons that people stop trying in any job (including the job of ‘spouse’) is that they believe they don’t make a difference.  But, if you got ‘thanked’ every day, how could you ever believe that you don’t make a difference?  People never get tired of hearing a sincere ‘Thank you’.
2. Celebrations. Create a culture of celebration.  Look for any business or human reason to celebrate a new customer signed up, a commitment met, a birthday or engagement.  Whether it’s an award, a plaque, a party or just ordering pizza for the Team on Friday, celebrate!  
3.  A special experience for an individual, or the Team. This is sort of a celebration on steroids.  It could be concert tickets, a special activity or adventure.  One of our recent clients takes his management, supervisory and sales Team for a 3-day adventure after each annual Sales Meeting.  This year, the destination was a fabulous fishing lodge that these folks would typically never get to on their own.  Since the company is in the outdoor adventure gear industry, the lodge experience was a perfect fit.  The better the fit, the more powerful the acknowledgement. 
4. Reward and honor spouses, partners and family also. If a work assignment takes a staff member away from their spouse, partner or family for a period of time, make it up to them by giving them a gift certificate for a fancy dinner, weekend away or some other activity that will make you and your staff member a ‘hero’ with their family. 
5. A promotion or job title.  Both of these recognize an employee’s effective contribution. Just make sure that you don’t promote someone to a position for which they’re not suited or properly trained.   That’s a career ‘death sentence’…not a recognition or reward.   This is a huge problem in many businesses. 
6. A bonus or a raise. Clearly, a bonus or raise is a welcome recognition of effective performance or increased responsibility.  Bonuses should always be tied to specific commitments being met or exceeded.  For example, most ‘Christmas Bonuses’ are not performance bonuses and should be called what they really are…a Christmas gift.
    
   Beware…a tiny, insignificant raise can be an insult, not a recognition.  A very capable friend of mine recently quit his job when, after 5 years, was given a 10 cent an hour raise.
    
   So, there you have it.  Six ways to recognize and reward your Team.  Which of these will you be sure to implement?  For even more ideas on how to make staff feel more important and be more engaged, Click here to download my Biz Tool #B-22. 

That’s it for this week…

Stay safe…live brilliantly!       

Donald Cooper 

Donald Cooper speaks and coaches internationally on management, marketing, and profitability.  He can be reached by email at donald@donaldcooper.com in Toronto, Canada.