The other day I had to stop by the dreaded DMV to get a new tag for our vehicle. The lady behind the counter couldn’t have looked more bored if she tried, but I tried to put on my happy face. This place was not going to destroy my soul for the short duration of my stay.

A man in front of me in line was trying to pay his taxes, and the lady kept telling him he owed a specific amount. He told her the car had not been used in several months, and she said, “Well, if you can tell me the exact date then I can put that in.”

He seemed lost for a moment. He did not have any way of guessing the accurate date without a calendar, and she was not about to offer any information, so I pulled out my phone.

Tap. Tap. Tap. 

“If it was the first Monday in September, that was the 4th.”

The man turned and looked at me with such relief, and I just turned back to my phone, somewhat embarrassed. I was mentally willing the transaction to finish at light speed. He turned back to the counter, and the lady said, “Well, you still have to tell me the date.”

The guy replied that what I had said sounded correct, though he didn’t have any way of verifying the date without a calendar.

She raised her voice and repeated, “I don’t care, you still have to tell me the date!”

He looked a little annoyed by the attitude, but he repeated the date and she went back to typing on her computer. A few moments later she handed him the form to sign and said, “You only saved $12 by going through all that trouble.”

He smiled and said, “Oh, but $12 is 12, and that’s worth something to me.”

She just shook her head, handed him the receipt, and looked to the next person in line. She’d already forgotten he existed.

I ended up using a different teller who was much more pleasant, and I offered her a loud and hearty “thank you” for her assistance when it was time to go. She was going to need the positive vibes if she was to be stationed next to the Grinch as long as she worked there.

A lesson for us all

This time of year is tough on many people as they are trying to make ends meet while still bringing some measure of joy to family and friends for the holidays. Some people can’t be home to celebrate (we’re praying for your safe return from Afghanistan, George!).

When you’re out and about and someone is serving you, offer them a smile and a measure of gratitude. It might not change their life, but it could make their day.

This saga has rocked Alabama for a few days, and I thought it was an interesting story to share with the outside world. The short version is that teachers can no longer receive gift cards or anything of value from parents as a “thank you” for doing a great job. My response is to this is, “What’s next, outlawing tips for servers?” Teachers have a tough job, and many parents realize that. They appreciate the effort and long hours put in by the people who are educating their children, and they want to take the time around the holidays to do something special to help the teacher understand that they care.

Then the government steps in and wrecks everything (which is pretty standard).

Check out the excerpt below from an email one school system sent to its parents and employees:

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In the Opinion issued yesterday, the Ethics Commission set out two specific rules that apply with respect to any gift to teachers:

1. The gift may not be given for any corrupt purpose, and
2. The gift has to be “de minimis” in value.

The first rule is easy enough to understand and unlikely to be an issue with gifts you would give to teachers. The meaning of “de minimis”, however, is a cause of some concern because while the term is used in the law, no definition of it is included. The Ethics Commission opinion issued yesterday offered as guidance the definition of the term as employed by the Internal Revenue Service: “A benefit so small as to make accounting for it unreasonable or unpractical.” The Commission also stated an item of “de minimis” value neither has significant intrinsic value nor the possibility of being sold for profit.

The Commission opinion stated clearly that teachers and public employees cannot receive gifts like:

• hams, turkeys, etc;
• gift cards with monetary value.

This list of prohibited gifts is obviously not all inclusive. The bottom line, as we understand the Commission opinion, is that any gifts given must be of de minimis, or insignificant intrinsic value to the teacher (unless specifically for the classroom, as mentioned below).

The Commission has given its opinion that teachers may receive gifts like the following (assuming they are not given for a corrupt purpose):

• Fruit baskets, homemade cookies, etc.;
• Christmas ornaments of little intrinsic value;
• Coffee mugs filled with candy of a holiday nature;
• Any item a teacher may use to assist him/her in performing his or her functions as a teacher, such as notebooks, school supplies, etc.
• CD’s or books of a nominal value, scarves, etc.

Obviously, this is not an all inclusive list but it should provide some guidelines to you of the types of gifts that are acceptable for school teachers to receive.

The Commission did note that the school or teacher may receive gift cards specifically for use on items needed in the classroom at any time during the year. But it specifically prohibited receipt of gift cards by a teacher for the teacher’s personal use. We see a significant risk of confusion here. For that reason we request that if you wish to present a gift card for classroom supplies to a teacher, please present it to the school principal’s office accompanied by instructions that it is given for the use of a particular teacher or classroom.

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Does anyone else think this is more than a little crazy?

Presenting work awards is one part of the employee recognition process. If you are going through the trouble to nominate someone, process the paperwork, and get them an award, wouldn’t you like people to know about it?

The wrong way

I was talking to a friend recently and heard this sad story. A handful of employees received awards for superior performance. It was the first time the work group had received awards, so it was a special occasion for the staff members who earned the kudos. However, the manager quickly stepped in and made it known that the awards were not to be communicated internally. Nobody could know that the employees had been rewarded for their efforts.

My take on that situation is multifaceted. First, the manager is missing out on a great opportunity to share about their people. Point out how well they did and encourage others to do the same (or better). And the people who received the awards? You could have given them half as much money and public praise would have made up the difference. It really is valuable when people don’t receive it often.

The right way

We just finished a big corporate move at work recently, and it was quite an ordeal. After the dust had settled, the team who made the move possible all received awards as a “thank you” for all the hard work. Check out the email below that went out as the public praise for the team.

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We’ve talked about it before, but recently the corporate office moved to a new location. On the outside, it was a fairly simple affair; however, from the inside there was an astounding amount of work that had to be completed. Not to be dissuaded, a few people really stepped in to make that transition as easy as possible. They picked up extra duties, worked long hours, and fought the good fight with vendors and builders to make sure this space was everything we needed it to be.

For their efforts, each of the employees mentioned below received an award as a token of appreciation; we wanted to offer this bit of public praise as well. To those of you who made it all possible, we all appreciate you very much.

(Employee names removed for this post)

Thank you for your support! You truly embody the Pinnacle spirit of Unequivocal Excellence in your work.

—–

I don’t know about you, but I know which method I prefer!

My friend Cori at Baudville sent me this cool tool for peer to peer recognition the other day. I’m itching to try it out. When I head to our off site location later this week I’ll be delivering it and offering some encouragement/guidance to our on site HR person to get it rolling.

Peer recognition in a nutshell

The basic idea is that much of the stuff that gets done isn’t obvious to managers, so having peers recognize each other covers those “unseen yet praise-worthy” actions.

There’s also the fun element which shouldn’t be underestimated. I love telling others how awesome they are for doing something extra special. The only way to make that even more fun is to do it when others can see and hear about their accomplishment. That not only earns them some extra kudos, but it also increases the likelihood that they will make that type of action a habit.

Do you have some sort of peer recognition program at your company? It can be as informal as a bulletin board for notes or as formal as a reward program where you get recognized in some sort of ceremony. Love to hear how others do this!

Today I’m giving a few shout outs. Why? Because people are doing great things and I don’t want you to miss out.

I had the opportunity recently to speak with Mike Haberman of Omega HR Solutions and author of the HR Observations blog. I’ve been reading Mike’s blog for almost a year now, and he is darn brilliant. His experience and passion show through his work, and I am glad we made contact. There are some amazing posts in his archives, but make sure you check out the recent ones he wrote on the idea of a free agent nation being alive and well and HR survival lessons from Drucker. Continue Reading »

I bet you have a process at your company to reprimand employees. You probably cover everything from verbal and written reprimands all the way to suspensions. I’m quite certain that every organization has a way to notify employees when they are performing poorly.

With that said, does your organization have a way to commend employees for a job well done? Aside from a short and sweet “attaboy” or “attagirl,” do you have a way to show your appreciation in a written format?

I’ve seen hundreds (thousands?) of reprimands. I’ve seen a single commendation. That leads me to two possibilities. One, there really aren’t any other staff members who deserve being commended for performing well (not likely). Or two, there aren’t any supervisors willing to commend someone for doing well (quite likely).

Or maybe it’s more benign, and the supervisors really don’t know the power of a short note letting someone know that he/she knocked it out of the park.

Whatever the cause, it’s a problem that needs to be addressed. I’m willing to bet that many of you work in companies that are similar. Check out your ratio. I don’t think you should be praising your employees daily for every little action, but when someone really takes up the slack and goes above and beyond, then it really wouldn’t hurt to show some appreciation.

Photo by Sidelong