One HR Leader Can Change An Organization

I was at an executive retreat last week in rural Texas with Colin Eagen of the E-Group (Washington, DC) and hosted by Pete Chambers of Inspirus and his executive team (Ft. Worth, TX). Thanks to Pete for a invigorating couple of days of enjoying the outdoors and engaging in thoughtful and passionate discussions about the exciting future of the Recognition business.

As we talked, one of the things we hit on was the fact that there are very few things that can have a major impact on every employee in an organization that aren’t decided by a corporate CEO or president. But. . .there is one thing that even a savvy HR director can do to literally change an organization, its culture, its employee engagement, and ultimately, its performance – that is to implement an enterprise-wide, workforce-recognition program.

There is so much proof that a strategic approach to recognition - based on a good recognition technology platform so that every employee is touched multiple times every year - improves engagement and business results (Gallup Consulting, Towers Watson, World at Work, etc.), that even if top management doesn’t “get” recognition, any decision-maker in HR who is willing to champion it can get a new program in place. . .and the organization will benefit greatly from that decision.

Here’s the key – new recognition technology (like that offered by our partners at Inspirus) makes it so EASY to develop a significantly better recognition process, that an undertaking that took ages just a few years ago, now can be done in 4 months or less. Think about that; one person with the guts to run with recognition can create a process that improves the lives and energy of every single employee, all while driving the culture that top executives want.

Here’s the other thing to think about - one of the directors at one of our clients did exactly what I’ve written about above and was singled out as a leader, lauded extensively and promoted for his efforts. Within a year of implementation, the Exec. VP HR noted that their new recognition system was “HR’s biggest win of the year.” Now that’s what I’m talkin’ about. . .