rewards

Catch Them Doing It Right

First published in the Management Chronicles of Better Software Magazine, January – February, 2008 issue. It’s also posted on the stickyminds website. <> A smile formed on Eleanor’s face as she saw me approach her doorway. She and I were meeting to discuss her views on recognizing and rewarding employees. She had been my manager [...]

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Manager is Junior Engineering

My friend Mitch was telling me this morning more about how his company was losing hundreds of millions of dollars because they couldn’t execute their plans (see my earlier post Key Person Won’t Participate). He mentioned that he had a one-on-one meeting with his manager to discuss how his work would drastically alter one-third of [...]

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Catch Them Doing It Right

Rewards can be powerful management tools, but only if you implement them effectively. Discover how the right timing and getting to know your employees better can improve the impact of your recognition methods.  My article Catch Them Doing It Right was published in the January, 2008 issue of Better Software Magazine. Check out a copy [...]

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Reenergize Action with Appreciative Feedback

All work requires energy. Middle-managers who divert all energy to new actions fall into a common trap: They fail to reenergize existing actions, which may kill the success of new actions. Middle management success depends on fueling both new and existing actions. How can appreciative feedback help you discover existing, effective actions and preserve them? [...]

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Rethinking Employee Rewards 3 of 3

My first post on rewarding employees explored the importance of providing a reward that is meaningful to the recipient. My second post explored the purpose of rewards, the timing of rewards, and my thoughts about rewarding all the members of a team rather than a few individual members of the team. In this final post [...]

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Rethinking Employee Rewards 2 of 3

In my first entry on employee rewards, I emphasized the importance of knowing the recipient well enough to reward them with something that is meaningful to them. But there is more to effective reward programs than providing a meaningful award. Let’s take a step back and explore answers to the questions: What is the purpose [...]

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Rethinking Employee Rewards, Part 1

I surveyed ten of my colleagues from different high-tech companies about the state of employee rewards programs at their company. One colleague told me about the outstanding reward programs where he works. The other nine colleagues told me something much different. Their feedback is easily summarized as follows: “Our reward programs are pathetic!” What’s the [...]

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