What's Recognition Education in Companies got to do with Sex Education in Schools?

Whenever I have had the opportunity to meet with a CEO or someone in the executive leadership team of a company, I have asked the question “What do you want to achieve with Recognition?” Every single response has been the same - “I want to build a strong Recognition culture in our company, where every employee feels appreciated for the contributions he or she is making, however small the contributions may be”. Of course, the words used and the phrasing of the response varies, but the essence has always been the same.

So how do you go about creating a strong Recognition culture within an organization?

It needs to begin with Recognition Education – i.e. managers across the organization need to understand what real Recognition is and understand why Recognition is almost a fundamental expectation of the employees who work for them. This is very different from Recognition Training, which is about using the Recognition Programs (i.e. Tools) available to managers. As my colleague, Roy Saunderson, says – “Think of it as Sex education in schools – what kids need is Sex Education, and not Sex Training”. In companies, what managers need is Recognition Education. If they are educated, using the tools will come naturally to them.