Worth considering at your agency 

Radio host Mike Carruthers recently interviewed Chester Elton, author of The Carrot Principle.  The subject was the need to attract and keep good workers, and the role of recognition and praise.  Here are a couple of Elton’s comments excerpted from their discussion. 

The softer side of business?

Elton: You know, I think for years recognizing and being good to your employees has been seen as the softer side of business.  If you had it, it was nice, but it wasn’t a must-have.  Now when you’ve got employees with so many choices, it really is a must-have in management. 

Recognition strategy

Elton:  We talk to managers about really specific in their praise.  I call it purpose-driven recognition.  Rewarded behavior gets repeated.  If you reward zero defects and on-time delivery, that behavior gets repeated. 

General praise fails 

Elton: General praise, which is a mistake a lot of managers make, has no impact.  You can’t just come in a room and say, “Hey, everybody, you’re doing a great job!” It doesn’t mean anything. Specificity, purpose-driven, that’s the right way to do it.  

Specific praise works 

Elton:  Saying things like, “Boy, I really appreciate you staying lat last night and taking care of that customer even though you stayed past your shift time.  You know we were short-staffed that day and he’s really critical to our business.  You could have said, ‘Hey, my time is up’ and left, but you didn’t.” 

Startling statistic from Elton... 

79% of people interviewed left their jobs not because they were  underpaid, but because they were underappreciated. 

Source: Cox News Service Something You Should Know column published in the Worcester Telegram-Gazette 7/9/07.  

Do you have a purpose-driven recognition strategy for your agency?  Not a bad strategy for customers too!