Recognise This! – Rewards are an important component of a strategic recognition programme, but poorly executed rewards can destroy all of the intended goodwill.

Usually I focus on the importance of the recognition moment – taking the time to specifically, frequently acknowledge and appreciate someone for their behaviours and actions that have reflected the company values in contribution to achieving strategic objectives.

But that doesn’t mean the reward half of the “recognition and rewards” equation is no less important. Just as there are many ways that well-intentioned managers and peers can make “recognition go wrong,” the same is true for rewards that insult and demean instead of positively reinforce for the employees the value and esteem the company has for them.

Workforce Management magazine’s most recent issue published an article on just this challenge – on a global scale. The article gives several examples of “rewards gone wrong,” such as why giving S$4 to Singapore employees is highly insulting and demotivating.

That’s why I’m quoted in the article, saying:

“The rewards must be 100% street-level local. Our motto is: think global, thank local. It’s so easy to say, but the challenge is in the execution. Here’s where many companies make a mistake. They think recognition comes in a box and can be shipped anywhere. Bu it’s a personal moment that will vary vastly whether we are in Singapore or Sydney or San Francisco.”

More important than the reward itself is what companies can accomplish with strategic employee recognition. As I commented:

“Culture is the new strategic advantage, and companies are seeing that. They ask us how employee recognition can build a culture that unifies all the employees around a golden thread vision. We tell them that rewards must be directly linked to the values of the organisation. Then you start to create this ripple effect of reinforcing your company’s culture around the world.”

I do have to disagree with Karen Walch, a professor who trains executives on how to behave globally, when she says: “Most of the time we are unconscious of how deep our cultural preferences are. It comes down to the brain. We’ve been acculturated in what we value. But our brains are very elastic, and we can be reprogramed with some reflection.”

I say, why risk it? Don’t force on your employees rewards you think are appropriate and meaningful –regardless of how well you’ve been “reprogramed.” Trust your employees to know their own minds – and their own desires – and let them choose the rewards they’ve always dreamed of from brands they know and trust in their own neighborhoods or anywhere in the world.

Have you ever been insulted by a (hopefully) well intentioned reward?