5 Traits of a Recognition Grinch

‘Tis the season of the endless cycle of holiday movies on every channel. Flipping past the Dr. Seuss cartoon classic How the Grinch Stole Christmas (about a creature who so hates Christmas he attempts to steal every element of it from a local town) got me thinking about the classic traits of a recognition Grinch in the workplace.

Trait 1: Withholding recognition from all but your top performers: Believing only top performers deserve praise and appreciation for their efforts ignores the solid work of the middle tier, without whom the top could not succeed at their current levels. Opening the opportunity for recognition to all is also one of the most powerful means for increasing employee engagement, per a recent Gallup study.

Trait 2: Reserving recognition for heroic recoveries only: As this post on Monster Customer Service Blunders highlights, “If foul-ups represent workers’ only chance to feel appreciated on the job, then in effect such foul-ups become almost precious to the workers.” Of course employees should be recognized for heroic recoveries, but they should also be recognized for every day efforts that contribute to your strategic objectives while reflecting your company values.

Trait 3: Using fear as a primary motivator: Mindy Grossman, CEO of HSN Inc., explained why this is a true Grinch move: “Fear is not a motivating factor. You might be able to get a little bit more out of someone in the short term, but you will completely erode your business and your culture in the long term. You’re going to lose all your good people.”

Trait 4: Blaming employee attitude instead of fixing company culture: I had a comment to another blog post recently asking why managers shouldn’t just call out a less than fully engaged employee for his bad attitude and send him packing. After all, there are plenty of others that would love the opportunity. It’s this kind of attitude in which a culture of fear and intimidation flourishes. If you want to build a culture of innovation, excitement and appreciation in which employees want to engage, avoid this Grinch move.

Trait 5: Recognizing employees only at the holidays: Too many company leaders think employee recognition means a holiday party, an end-of-year bonus or a box of donuts in the breakroom. Unfortunately, not only have many of these efforts been cut from the budget due to the recession, but a once-a-year “Hey, thanks!” does nothing to reinforce those behaviors in individual employees that you need to succeed.

What other recognition Grinch traits have you seen or experienced?