Editor’s note: We asked several IT leaders to share what they do to praise and/or reward good work within their organization. Below is Arbella Insurance CIO Paul Brady’s reply, as well as links to answers from other Enterprisers.
Thanks comes at three levels – group recognition, project recognition, and individual recognition – and I try to hit all of those as a leader. We do a lot of the fundamental things to recognize exceptional effort, including team recognitions, spot cash awards, and quarterly lunches or ice cream parties. Yet at the end of the day an individual thank you goes a long way.
People want to be thanked, they want to be appreciated, they want to feel like they’re having an impact and helping IT to be successful. There is nothing worse than walking out the door at the end of a Friday feeling like you’ve failed or weren’t appreciated. That’s why tying things back to business value and making sure people realize they are appreciated is probably one of the top five retention factors that keep people motivated and enjoying their job.
For more "Thank You" advice, also read:
3 powerful ways to praise employee progress
Don't leave any of these people off your IT thank-you list
The quickest way to build mini-champions for IT in your organization
