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the human side A Dale Carnegie'' Feature A Dale Carnegie' Feature The Importance Importance of of Recognition Recognition The By Arthur R. Pell, Ph.D. By Arthur R. Pell, Ph.D. Consultant, Dale Carnegie Carnegie&&Associates, Associates, Inc. Inc. Consultant, Dale In his ex it interview after (jU itt ing his job with the Bu ilding In his exit interview after quitting his job with the Building Maintenance C o rporation , Wood y Ha rding was ask ed what he Maintenance Corporation, Woody Harding was asked what he li ked and disli ked about the compan y. Woody responded that. liked and disliked about the company. Woody responded that, although the salary and benefit s we re good , he never felt part of although the salary and benefits were good, he never felt part of th ecompany. compan y."I"I always a lwa ysfelt felt that that I Iwas wasnothing nothi ngmore morethan thanaacog cog the mac hine. " he he said. siid. "I"I worked ~ o rked in my department for nine inin aa machine," in my department for nine month ' and and I Idon't d o n't think think my my boss hos:,ever evercalled called me meby by name. name. He He months called a ll the gu ys 'Mac'." called all the guys 'Mac'." I.i, a 1.ang to ld a similar story. When she complained to her Lisa Lang told a similar story. When she complained to her bw. that she rese nt ed being called "dea r" or "honey, .. her boss boss that she resented being called "dear" or "honey," her boss told her that she should be natt ered because it showed he liked told her that she should be flattered because it showed he liked her. She pointed out that he call ed all th e women by sim ilar her. She pointed out that he called all the women by similar end earmcnh and he responded. "With th e high turno \'e r we have endearments and he responded, "With the high turnover we have thi , de partment. I can 't tak e the trouble to learn all yo ur inin this department, I can't take the trouble to learn all your nam e,. " \'ot on ly is using 'uch terms de meaning, thi s pract ice names." Not only is using such terms demeaning, this practice ha s bern inte rpreted by some judges as evidence o f sex ual has been interpreted by some judges as evidence of sexual h a ra ~~ 111..:nt. harassment. F\c r1· human being cra\Ts recognition. Nobod y want s to be Every human being craves recognition. Nobody wants to be consid ered just part of a mass of work ers. Each person has a considered just part of a mass of workers. Each person has a gi\c n name and . by using that name in addressing him o r her, the given name and, by using that name in addressing him or her, the ' upcni so r takes the first step in rccogni1ing the indi,·idual ity of supervisor first step in recognizing the individuality th at r crsotakes n. Dathe le Carnegie sa id : " Remember that a persoof n's that person. Dale Carnegie said: "Remember that a person's name is to that person the "veetest and most imro rtant sou nd in name is to that person the sweetest and most important sound in an y lan guage. " any language." I.earn A bout Their Lives Learn About Their Lives Each one of our people has a life ou tside th e job th at is Each one of our people has a life outside the job that is usuall y more important to thtt r erson than the job itself. By usually more important to that person than the job itself. By tal king to our empl oyees abo ut the things that reall y interest talking to our employees about the things that really interest th em o ut side th e j ob. we let them know we arc interested in th em them outside the job, we let them know we are interested in them a s r en rle -- not JUSt wo rk ers. as people -- not just workers. One night when Garv was \\at ching the local news on his when Gary wasone watching local Nancy. news onbeihis TV.One he night was startled to sec of histhe clerks, ng TV, he was startled to see one of his clerks, Nancy, being in ten iewed about her collecti o n of American flag s going back to interviewed about her collection of American flags going back to colonial days. Nanc v had work ed fo r him for three years and he colonial days. Nancy had worked for him for three years and he was not aware of thi s unu sua l hohhy. He rea!i?ed th at he kne w was not aware of this unusual hobby. He realized that he knew litt le abo ut an y of hi s peorle. Gary resol ved to correct th is. The little about any of his people. Gary resolved to correct this. The next mo rning he congratulated Nancy on her interview and asked next morning Nancy on th hereninterview her lJUes ti o nsheabcongratulated o ut the collection . He mad e a and rractasked ice of her questions about the collection. He then made a practice of using sl ow peri ods on the JOb to talk to each of hi s peo ple. He using slowa good periods onabout the job to talk to each of hisand people. deal their interests. families act iviHe ties learned learned a good deal about their interests, families and activities that he ne ve r knew. This enabled him to use talenb they had that that he never knew. This enabled him to use talents they had that he was not awa re of and to es tabli sh much grea ter raprort wi th he was not aware of and to establish much greater rapport with each of them. Instead of co nsidering all his people as " his each of ent." them. heInstead of considering "his dcrartm now looked upon themallas his indi people viduals. as each of department," he now looked upon them as individuals, each of whom related in hi s or her own way to the department and whom related in his or her own way to the department and th e refore could contribute different ly but effecti vel y t o the therefore could contribute differently but effectively to the depa rt me nt 's goa ls. department's goals. Recognize Accomplishments Recognize Accomplishments The1-c arc many ways companies recognize the accomp lishThere are ways companies recognize the hote accomplishme nt s of th eirmany e mployees. In the lo bbies of most ls and in ments of their employees. the lobbies of one mostcan hotels prominent places in many In comran y offices, oftenand findina find a often can one offices, company many in places prominent plalJUe dedi cat ed to th e "emrloyee of t he month." Rein g named plaque theOr"employee Being named to th is dedicated ho no r is atomaJ e\-c nt in thofe the livesmonth." of the honorees. T hey to this honor is a major event in the lives of the honorees. They Copyright~ may he gi ven some tangibl e awa rd, but more impo rta nt t ha n the may be given some tangible award, but more important than the bonusoro rprize pri?eisisthe therecognition recognit ionthat th atthey theyhave havebeen bee ngiven. given . bonus Mary Kaye, the cosmetics compan y, is kno wn fo r its policy Mary Kaye, the cosmetics company, is known for its policy of gi ving recognition to those peo ple o n its staff who a re achievers. of giving recognition to those people on its staff who are achievers. additi o n to award s and pla(jues, the award winners are feted InIn addition to awards and plaques, the award winners are feted their conventions co nve ntions and and publicized publicized inin the thecompany co mpany in-house in-house atat their publicati o n. Probabl y th e most co veted award is the use publication. Probably the most coveted award is the use ofofaa pink Cad illac given to the highes t ac hie ve rs. How pro ud ly the pink Cadillac given to the highest achievers. How proudly the winners drive their cars, wh ich pro vide not only status, but winners drive their cars, which provide not only status, but recogniti on by the company fo r a j ob well don e. To keep the cars recognition by the company for a job well done. To keep the cars from year to year, the winners must continue to meet or exceed from year to year, the winners must continue to meet or exceed th e hi gh stand ard s re(juired . the high standards required. Stew Leonard Leo nard owns o wn s the the largest largest single single dairy da iry store store inin the the Stew United States, located in No rwal k, Co nnecticut. During the preUnited States, located in Norwalk, Connecticut. During the preThanbgiving ru sh, so me of the office staff noticed that t he lo ng Thanksgiving rush, some of the office staff noticed that the long lines at the check-out co unters were moving slow ly. With o ut any lines at the check-out counters were moving slowly. Without any promrt ing from management , several of these clerks left their prompting from management, several of these clerks left their regular wo rk and went t o the coun ters to help the cash iers bag regular work and went to the counters to help the cashiers bag the g roceries and thus accelerate the movement of the lines. the groceries and thus accelerate the movement of the lines. When Stew became aware of this he resolved to do something When Stew became aware of this he resolved to do something specia l fo r t hese peo ple. Aft er t he ho liday, he ru rchased fo r each special for these people. After the holiday, he purchased for each of them a beautifull y knitted sh irt with th e inscrirt ion "Stew of them a beautifully knitted shirt with the inscription "Stew Leo nard ABCD Award " emb roide red o n each shirt . Leonard ABCD Award" embroidered on each shirt. Wh en asked what this insc ript io n sig nified , t he people were When asked what this inscription signified, the people were told . "Abo ve and Beyond the Call of Dut y." told, "Above and Beyond the Call of Duty." By giving special recogni tion to peop le who gave mo re than giving special recognition who gave more credit than re(juBy ired to their jobs, Stew not to onpeople ly "ga ve credi t where required to their jobs, Stew not only "gave credit where credit was due." but let everybod y -- the employees themsel ves, their was due," but everybody co-workers andletsuperviso rs a--ndthe the employees custome rs themselves, -- kno w t hattheir their co-workers and supervisors and the customers -know that their work wa.s a ppreciated . In d oing t his, he contribu ted to the work was appreciated. doing contributed to the continuing growth of the In co mp an y'sthis, esprilhed 'corps. continuing growth of the company's esprit d'corps. Put It In Writing Put It In Writing At the A & G Merchandi sing Co., superviso rs are provided At the A & G Merchandising Co., supervisors are provided with a packet o f "Thank You" ca rds. These ca rd s, which are with a packet of "Thank You" cards. These cards, which are ava ilable in any greeting ca rd sto re, have the wo rd s "Thank You" available greetingsccard have printed in in any a beautiful ript store, on t he fro the nt awords nd th e"Thank rest is You" bla nk. printed in a beautiful script on the front and the rest is blank. Wh e never a n e mpl oyee do es some thin g worth y of s pecial Whenever an employee does something worthy of special recogn ition , the superviso r writes a note o n one of these cards recognition, supervisor writes a hment note on at the special accomplis wasone andofcothese ngratucards lating specify ing whthe specifying what the special accomplishment was and congratulating the employee fo r achievin g it. Most recirients show t hem to t heir the employee for achieving it. Most recipients show them to their friend s and fa mily and keep them fore ver. friends and family and keep them forever. No matter what award yo u may gi ve to an emp loyee -- be it cash No matter what award you may give to an employee -- be it cash o r merchandise, it is wo rth spendi ng a few more d ollars and orinclu merchandise, it is worth spending a few more dollars and di ng a ce rtificat e o r pia(jue. T hese mement os wi ll be hung including a certificate or plaque. These mementos will be hung and se rve as a permanent remi nd er that yo u recog ni7ed their and serve as a permanent reminder that you recognized their accomp lishme nt s. accomplishments. Pocket / purse size reprints may be purchased ( 10 for $ 10.00) or Pocket/purse size reprints may be purchased (10 for $10.00) or (25 for $20.00) from Dale Carnegie & Associates, Inc, 1475 (25 for $20.00) from Dale Carnegie & Associates, Inc. 1475 Franklin Avenue, Garden Cit y, NY 11530 Franklin Avenue, Garden City, NY 11530 1986 Dale Carnegie & Associates, Inc. Gar den City, N.Y. All rights reserved. No copies or reprints may be made. Copyright @ 1986 Dale Carnegie & Associates, Inc. Garden City, N.Y. All rights reserved. No copies or reprints may be made. 142 PLAY METER/ May 1989 142 PLAY METER/May 1989