Is Your Organization Encouraging This Key Employee Motivator?

In a study by Teresa Amabile and Steven Kramer, it was identified that one of the most important motivators is to give employees a clear sense of progress in meaningful work. This progress doesn't have to be measured in leaps, bounds or dramatic finishes. Rather, there is tremendous power in steady, incremental growth, as they emphasize the minor milestones in chipping away at a goal. Amabile and Kramer note two behaviors that give employees essential feedback: Catalysts and Nourishers.

Catalysts - actions that directly support the work being done. Catalysts can include goals, incentives and rewards.

Nourishers - actions that support the workers. Nourishers can be praise, recognition or an offer of help.

Both catalysts and nourishers are crucial for communicating to employees that they are valuable and that their work is leading somewhere.

Recognition as The Catalyst and Nourisher

Employee recognition can be thought of primarily as a Nourisher, as employees share stories of recognition to their peers and managers, considered as messages of value and support.

But by bringing recognition into the Intranet, it builds a repository of success stories and achievements that are searchable and discoverable inside the firewall. This transforms recognition into a business asset much more powerful than a simple messaging system and, ultimately, this database of success stories helps managers see where Catalysts might be effective for helping their team succeed by:

• Building the team's social graph - Managers can visualize their team's social graph and use recognition to connect to other teams with desired skills.
• Fostering behaviors that exemplify corporate values - Managers can read stories of other employees who have embodied the corporate values to learn how they drove business success and turn these into coaching opportunities for their own team.
• Spotting budding talent - Managers can more easily identify team members who are thriving and mentor them into leaders.

A recognition program, when integrated in the Intranet and properly executed, is much more powerful than a sticker to employees telling them, 'way to go'. It can be that crucial employee motivator and guide that is used to drive progress.

 Read the case study on how WSPS engaged their office and remote employees after a merger of three well-established organizations by bringing TemboSocial Recognition into their Intranet.