I announced in May, 2010, the 52 - Week Employee Recognition Plan. This is the 28th week. The lesson this week is:
Support their charities.
We have listed 27 ways, 27 steps you can take, to recognize your employees. This step may offer the greatest, most meaningful, recognition for your employees. Supporting their charities shows you care about their values, their goals, their lives. And you willingly invest in their lives outside their work. And you willingly invest in their activities 1 or 2 or 3 steps removed from any direction connection with work.
Supporting can be defined as:
- donating funds, personal or corporate.
- allowing them time during the day to volunteer
- allowing them time during meetings to describe their charities and why it is important.
- sharing their story in your company newsletter.
- sharing your time to listen.
A number of pre-requisites are required to complete this step. You will have to:
- have built a foundation of trust with them
- create a culture where deeper values are shared and encouraged
- invest the time to engage with them
- listen with them
And the steps listed in this 52 - Week Employee Recognition Plan will help you complete those pre-requisites.
Think about what those steps would bring for you, your organization and those who help create, build, sustain and grow that into their organization. And now this last step is almost a celebration of what you have achieved.
Thanksgiving Week, this week, is a good time for this lesson.
Thanksgiving...giving thanks.
A tangible way to give thanks is to support charities. Help those who have as yet not enjoyed the benefits of life you have so far. Give thanks back giving back.
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You can start with any week of the 52 - Week Employee Recognition Plan and make that your first week.
You can take one of those weeks and turn it into a month or commit to an accelerated pace and complete 6 of the weeks in one month.
You can create your own week of employee recognition. Share that journey here. Share it in your blog or Twitter or Facebook.
But, do something to recognize your employees! They set your brand apart as your ultimate competitive edge.
And the more you recognize their achievements, the more achievements you'll see and they'll enjoy, along with your customers and and shareholders, partners and vendors.
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