Just 15 minutes a day for staff recognition

You believe in the power of staff recognition. You want to acknowledge people for how they contribute and for what they achieve. But when?

How can you find time in your busy schedule to recognize staff? Your days are already filled with tasks that require your attention.

I understand this challenge. I face a different, but similar one. Where do I find time to market my new book, Thanks, Again! More Simple, Inexpensive Ways for Busy Leaders to Recognize Staff?

With this question in mind, I was attracted to a webinar that promised that book marketing could be done in just 15 minutes a day. 

As I listened to Stephanie Feger of emPower PR Group, I realized that the concept she was espousing could be adapted to become a solution for those struggling to find time to recognize staff.

Schedule 15 minutes every day to recognize staff. Use this time to:

• Drop by a staff member’s workstation to deliver your message of appreciation in person. Spend a few minutes asking questions and allowing them to talk about what they do.
• Write a note (or two) to say thank you or congratulations to an individual for how they contributed or for what they achieved.
• Send an email or text to thank someone for what they do. Be specific when describing what they do that you appreciate.
• Meet a staff member for coffee. Let them know something you appreciate about how they do their job. Leave time for them to talk about their work. Do they have suggestions of ways to improve the workplace?
• Use your phone to record a video message expressing appreciation. Then text it to them.
• Write words of appreciation on sticky notes and attach them to staff members’ computers or desks.
• Express your appreciation with a social media post.
• Leave a recommendation on a staff member’s LinkedIn page.
• Read an article or chapter in a book about staff recognition to discover other quick ways to let staff know you appreciate them for what they do.

Whether it’s 15 minutes a day to market a book or to recognize staff, it needs to become a habit.

“Making Staff Recognition a Habit,” is one of the 30 themes (chapters) in Thanks, Again! There are three tips from this theme that I plan to adapt to make 15-minute marketing a daily habit which could also be applied to help create your 15-minute staff recognition habit:

• Add “spend 15 minutes recognizing staff ” to you daily to-do list. At the top of the page!
• Find an “accountability partner.” It could be a colleague, your boss or your administrative assistant. Explain what you are trying to do and ask them to help you stay the course by checking in with you regularly.
• Keep score and make it visible. This could be as simple as check marks on a wall calendar. Record every day you spend 15 minutes recognizing staff.

Consider adopting these suggestions or any of the other 15 from Thank, Again! to make 15-minute staff recognition a daily habit.

I hope my 15-minute book-marketing habit will mean more book sales and I hope that your 15 minutes a day for staff recognition will make a difference when it comes to engaging and retaining your staff.

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Thanks, Again! Is available at Audreys Books, 10702 Jasper Ave., Edmonton (and on their website) and online from Amazon, Indigo, FriesenPress Bookstore, Barnes & Noble and from the Apple Books app.