Catch Employees Doing Right

On going through the list of best Companies to work for 2013(Fortune survey), came across one of the winners (in first 10) having a practice of “Catching Someone doing something Right” and I thought this is the ultimate in employee engagement.

Most of our policies in companies talk about what should or should not be done and HR managers are always called on to discipline employees, be it for late coming, incomplete work or as done at annual appraisals, identifying the bottom 10 per cent. Such appraisals also throw up the stars but then a whole lot of small acts which may have contributed  in their own small way to help  growth, processes or just to bring a smile on some one’s face, often go unnoticed.

Instances of an employee who helped a colleague with a tie when called for an urgent meeting, help a lady recover when she slipped, someone offering to help a colleague carrying a laptop and files to a meeting or even a canteen boy making sure that the tables in the cafeteria are always kept neat and clean; innumerable instances which if noticed and appreciated, could actually boost the ego of the employee performing them and bring a new perspective to timely and meaningful recognition.Rather than the yearly appraisal, periodic reviews and even substantial increments (whose value gets discounted in two months), Catching Employees doing Right is the best and cheapest way to maintain continuous employee engagement

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In the award winning Company mentioned earlier, the top man asks Functional heads to keep him informed whenever they “Catch” employees doing something positive, something appreciable even though trivial, and then makes it a point to call and thank around 10 such employees every day. I salute such a practice because the entire exercise brims with positive vibes, done only to tell the employee that someone has noticed the good deed she did.

These practices can contribute significantly to Continuous Employee Engagement, something that every organisation wants to do, given the high rate of attrition and not so positive feedback from official, periodic reviews. The merit of such appreciation will be experienced almost immediately and it is not only cost effective but can generate high levels of enthusiasm, with considerable positive impact on the entire organisation. .

If some of us can make it a point to Catch at least one person Doing Right and acknowledge the event, we would have made her and of course our own day.

Warm regards

Job Xavier- Mumbai

98923 29188