Recognizing employee successes is an important factor in building self-confidence in their job and it is also a big motivator to encourage work habits in the right direction that will make them successful at their career and the business.
As employers or management we all to often can find the short-comings and mistakes that employees make and will focus more on these than their successes, which probably often, but go unnoticed. It is expected that they accomplish their job duties successfully so there is no real reward for doing so.
Smart employers know that by recognizing success and acknowledging their employees for them, they are creating “excitement and motivation” in their employees that will pay off ten-fold to the business. By catching employees “doing good” up and beyond what is expected and rewarding them for it, makes them realize that they are appreciated and they will want to try to perform in a way that will have a positive affect on the business and on them.
For example; several months ago one of our employees realized that we had referrals for new patients to come to our practice, but they had not called to make appointments yet. She took it upon her own to pull all of these referrals and call them to have them schedule appointments. I had been watching and listening to her do this throughout the day when she had a free moment and when she was done she mentioned that the schedule was now filled for the following week and seemed quite excited about it.
I asked her what made her make the calls without being asked and she said “well we had some openings next week and I knew that we had these referrals that had not called for an appointment, so I decided that if their primary doctor thought it was important for them to be seen and that they sent a referral to us, that I should call them to make sure they get an appointment.”
I was so excited that she took it upon her own to do something that was positive for our practice. I told her how great it was that she acted on her own to do something to add to our patient schedule the following week and that it showed that she was thinking about what was good for all of us by doing so. She was very happy that she had acted in a positive way for the practice also.
I didn’t let is stop there, I not only told the doctor so he could thank her and tell her that her actions were appreciated, but I went out and purchased a $25 Visa card and gave it to her the next day with a hand written card thanking her again for seeing a need and figuring out how to fill it.
Now this is not something that happens everyday, but I have recognized success in employee actions and rewarded it in multiple ways, such as a thank you card, flowers, Starbucks card, lunch, etc. It has made a difference in our staff because they know we not only are watching and listening to them, but we appreciate what they do and this motivates everyone in the office to do the best job they can to provide the best patient service and care each day.
Today take the time to look for success in those you work with and then recognize it in someway, it will make a difference to them and to you.
“To be appreciated is the greatest gift of all”
08/12/14
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