Eyeworld

by Bob Teale, C.O.E., O.C.S. Recognize, praise, and reward your employees When to do what and how to do it M ost elements of man- agement require skill- ful timing and motive, and employee recogni- tion is no exception. If done correctly, regular reward and praise of you staff will transform you from a good manager into a great leader, boosting morale and produc- tivity along the way. A good leader will notice when an employee is doing something noteworthy and will want to shine the light on a stellar performance for the sake of the individual, the team, and the overall practice environ- ment. In addition, the personal and professional gratification enjoyed by your employees when acknowledged and rewarded for a job well done makes this a fun part of managing a practice or business. Recognize Knowing when to recognize an em- ployee's performance starts with knowing what to recognize and how to do it. Good managers remember to recognize an occasional good per- formance from an employee. Great leaders do it every day without dilut- ing its value. Here are some quick and easy things to do to make sure that recog- nizing employees' exceptional per- formances becomes part of your daily routine. Make recognizing employees a part of your weekly "to do" list. Add to your list of goals the names of the people who report to you, and look for something "above the norm" with them according to the duties and responsibilities presented in their job descriptions. Recognize their efforts either one-on-one or in front of the staff during a staff meet- ing. Use voicemail. Rather than using voicemail only to assign tasks, leave messages that acknowledge outstanding performances witnessed that day. For example, praise some- thing the employee did that he or she wasn't asked or expected to do, such as helping a teammate or assist- ing in an area where that person normally doesn't work. Write thank you notes at the end of the day. Keep a stack of 3-by- 5-inch note cards on your desk where you can't ignore them. At the end of the day, take a minute to write a thank you note to each em- ployee who made a difference to your practice that day, e.g., someone who was especially helpful to a pa- tient or who caught a costly billing error before it went through. Find five exceptional out- comes every day. Each morning, put five coins in your pocket. Then during the day, every time you rec- ognize an employee doing some- thing well, transfer a coin to your other pocket. While a little uncon- ventional, it will train you to recog- nize exceptional employees and help you set an expectation of discovery beyond one or two individuals. On a daily basis, attempt to find five dif- ferent people who are doing or have done something beyond the usual office routine. Recognize your employees equally. Be fair. Do not play fa- vorites. While each of us gets along better with certain personalities, it is imperative that you not recognize, praise, or reward the same few em- ployees over and over. Office gossip will give way to resentment if your staff senses that you favor one or a select few over other employees, which can kill morale and sabotage your efforts to motivate your team. Praise Many managers feel that handing out praise indiscriminately is better than not handing out any praise at all. This is not true. If you hand out praise arbitrarily or for the wrong reasons, it may do more harm than good. Here are a few guidelines to follow when using praise as a way to note good performance. Be very specific about what you praise. Rather than giving a general pat on the back, be specific in your feedback for a job well done. Being specific will minimize tenden- cies to view you as a pushover. It also will gain you the respect of your employees when they see you are paying close attention to their indi- vidual contributions and hard work. Do not praise ordinary per- formance. You set the expectation too low when you praise average performance. If you praise employ- ees for doing routine tasks, they won't be encouraged to do better. Raise your standard so that your praise will be of value to your em- ployees when they do exceptional work. Then they will look for ways to win your approval and excel in their jobs. Take time to acknowledge your employees. Don't just "hit and run" with your comments. Spend the time necessary to let your em- ployees know how much their dedi- cation and conscientiousness means to you and the practice. Ask them to demonstrate some of their strategies and/or tactics on how they achieved their result. The extra time you in- vest with those employees can only encourage greater results on the next assignment. Use praise to improve poor performance. If an employee is doing well in one area of his or her job but poorly in another, use praise to improve the poor performance. Commend the employee on what he or she is doing well, and review the details that made the outcome a suc- cess. Next, encourage your employee to apply the same winning strategy to the problem area to turn it around. Keep your praise positive. To safeguard against defensiveness, give your critique, assessment, or recom- mendation in the area that needs work without using the word "but," EW Ophthalmology Business 60 June 2011

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