The Supervisor's Lament-
"But, I don't have any money to reward
my staff!"
In times of economic difficulty, organizations need to look at what is possible in the arena of reward and recognition. Research shows that appreciation by the supervisor is very reinforcing, so much so, that it can lead to not only getting good performance, but getting "discretionary effort"- above and beyond the job. Supervisors can be discouraged when they hear staff say, "That's not my job!"
What would it take for supervisory staff to use positive reinforcement and relationship building to get "discretionary effort" from their staff? The cost is only in the time it takes to "catch" people doing the right thing and say something then. You can get even more impact when you link the remark to a goal - a university goal, a department goal, or the staff's goal.
Examples :
- "Your idea fits well with the University core value of disseminating learning, let's look into how to fund it. "
- "I see that you are really trying to collaborate with your co-workers. How is that working for you?"
- "When you improved that process, many people, both inside our department and our customers outside the University are grateful."
University guidelines have been established to guide your recognition efforts and the use of funding. Developing a written program helps to ensure an open process and provides documentation for audit.
- Guidelines for Recognition at the University of Iowa (pdf)
- Your Departmental Written Recognition Program (pdf)
Questions? Email nancy-noyer@uiowa.edu or call 335-0560.