Monday, August 20, 2007

Grassroots Recognition and Appreciation

Odds are, you can quickly name several extraordinary performers in your organizations whose efforts are largely unrecognized. You may be one of them.

Instead of shrugging and updating your resume or suggesting that those people do the same, my suggestion to those who've noticed the Great Unnoticed is to make some small effort to correct the situation.

Sending a note to the person's boss (and maybe even copying the note to that person's boss) is a decent thing to do. The note doesn't have to be lengthy and it shouldn't state anything that is untrue. Simply describe the nature of the work that you've noticed and how much you appreciate it. Don't assume that everyone knows how good that employee is. Supervisors are notoriously near-sighted on such matters and a note is the sort of nudge that can lead to meaningful recognition.

Even if nothing extraordinary happens, you can be assured that the other employee will appreciate your effort. Imagine how wealthy you would be if you had a dollar for every person who hungers for appreciation.

The responsibility for appropriate recognition isn't limited to the immediate supervisor. In a perfect world, that might be sufficient but we all know this isn't a perfect world. Some people out there deserve your help.

Why not help them?


2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I think you are correct for going out of your way to get people recognized. I try to do this when I have a good customer experience or co-workers who may not be in my division, but who perform their task in an outstanding way. I disagree about polishing your resume. The last place I worked at just didn't care and I don't want to work for people who don't care.

Michael Wade said...

Matt M,

By polishing the resume I meant getting out of there. The best advice for uncaring environments is simple: Flee.