Inf this holiday season of expressing our love and appreciation to family and friends through the giving of gifts, I’d like to express my thanks and appreciation for all of those who make my work life fun, enjoyable and truly meaningful. Without my colleagues – my friends – work would be a drudgery. Instead, it is an exciting challenge that I look forward to every day. Thank you, all. The opportunity to work with you is truly a gift.

Even though I take this moment to very publicly express my appreciation, I am consistent in my efforts to continually, frequently and personally recognise my colleagues for work they do. Frequency is a critical element of recognition that is meaningful to the recipient and impactful for achieving strategic objectives. It’s like Derik Mocke put it on his Sustainable Employee Motivation site:

“People often say that employee motivation doesn’t last. We’ll neither does bathing. That’s why I recommend both daily … especially employee motivation.”

Somewhat tongue in cheek, but very true. As is this statement Drew Stevens in Human Resources IQ:

“Management must constantly strive to provide feedback to employees. Feedback is not an annual performance review event. It is imperative that daily communication exists for good information and improvement. Coaching, counseling and mentoring are components of organisational morale. Many people attend church and hear the words, ‘It is right to give thanks and praise.’ Many watch professional sports and witness coaches cheering on their athletes. We can learn something here: Simple words of thanks and praise can improve employee morale and relationships.” (emphasis mine)

Take a moment as we bring one year to a close and being another to thank those who have made work easier, more pleasant and more fun for you. And thank you, readers of this blog, for your thoughts and insightful comments that make this more fun and engaging for me as well.