University of Minnesota - UMN Executive Leadership Insights
1501 Ways to Reward Employees
Book

1501 Ways to Reward Employees

Low-Cost and No-Cost Ideas. Best Practices. Latest Trends. Proven Strategies. Ways to Motivate the Millennial Generation.

Bob Nelson
Workman Publishing, 2012
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Editorial Rating

8

Qualities

  • Applicable
  • Concrete Examples

Recommendation

Bob Nelson’s list-packed primer on praising shows you the right and wrong ways to reward high-performing employees. “Dr. Bob” explains the crucial roles that recognition and gratitude play in employee motivation and performance, and tells you how to make meaningful gratitude and acknowledgment an integral part of your firm. He outlines strategies for a variety of scenarios, from offering regular commendation on normal workdays to recognizing employees when times are tough. His real-life examples of how top employers make workers feel appreciated add depth to his chunky list. getAbstract recommends that managers keep a well-thumbed edition at hand.

Summary

The Rules and Regulations of Recognition

The best managers know that rewarding top employees helps ensure that their outstanding performances will continue. Recognition spurs people to excel further, offers useful “feedback” and helps workers keep striving – but it can’t amount to just a haphazard impulse or a random pat on the back. To add substance to your efforts, follow these “principles of recognition”:

  • “You get what you reward” – When you acknowledge good performance, employees tend to repeat it.
  • “The best recognition is contingent” – When you compliment someone, you’re not offering a pleasantry. You’re reacting to a concrete action with positive attention.
  • “The best recognition is free” – Simple words of appreciation are always welcome.

Managers can compliment high-performing employees with “personal praise” delivered face-to-face; “written praise,” such as a “formal letter”; “electronic praise,” like a recorded phone message or email; or “public praise” that is either published or delivered at a gathering. Recognition should be timely, earnest, highly descriptive, specific to the recipient, upbeat and frequent...

About the Author

Employee motivation expert “Dr. Bob” Nelson is president of Nelson Motivation Inc. He co-founded Recognition Professionals International and has sold four million books in 37 languages.

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