In today’s competitive edge environment, the concept of executive recognition has received its due importance. During such programs, the employees generally view the top management and senior leaders of the company as their role models and not as employees of the same business capable of being assessed and receiving feedback.
The senior executives play a crucial role in setting up the right path for the company. However, while acting as the guiding light, they are generally passed over during assessment and recognition.
Senior executives and top management leaders are also regular human beings who deal with failures, weaknesses, and uncertainties while ensuring a bright future for their businesses. Recognizing their professional efforts will ultimately help them alleviate their self-esteem and confidence like every other workplace employee.
Praise and recognition are paramount human needs. It will help them in influencing, motivating, and creating a positive environment at the workplace. Every person must receive incentives for their hard work and quality performance, including the executives. The most appreciated solution for that is executive recognition.
Executives are responsible for making critical decisions for their firms and ensuring high standards of performance and outcomes. While the executives are undoubtedly motivated to take their businesses to greater heights, executive recognition can be an effective alternative to enhance this intrinsic behavior.
Executive recognition delivers value and meaning to their work and efforts. And keeps the senior leaders of a company engaged with their employees at the workplace.
How Recognition and Appreciation Work Can Do Wonders in C-suite
When the firm’s senior management receives appreciation at their workplace, their leaders feel more optimistic and sense positive energy surrounding them.
Being a leader includes several additional pressures for the business upkeep. The firm leaders are usually left alone at the top in decision-making and fulfilling responsibilities. In such situations, empathy counters the negativity that is settling.
Specific recognition also encourages positive performance and avoids any inaction from the senior management of a business. When the senior management is happy, the resulting positive outlook benefits everyone in the chain.
Apart from direct appreciation, executive recognition can act as a handy tool to create an environment of mutual respect and support. It is a win-win strategy for both the employees and executives to establish a harmonious and fluent workplace connection.
Fluent Interaction Within the Organization
An effective business structure includes an expressive communication channel among the senior leaders and employees of the firm.
While the senior management encourages their employees to adopt a recognition program, their self-participation in such activities will increase the trust and motivation factor among the employees. It will also create a rational harmony of ideals and principles among the top-tier management and the rest of the organization.
It bridges the communication gap between the employees and their leaders. To promote the recognition culture across the organization, the leader must voluntarily and actively participate in such initiatives.
Executive recognition programs can build a strong base for a recognition culture that shall further strengthen the employee productivity and engagement initiatives. When the senior executives offer feedback and recognition to their employees, they emphasize the values and visions of their organization. Likewise, when the executives receive credit as leaders, they complete the cycle of their business’ improvements and enhancements.
Chance for Continuous Improvement
Along with the business stress, the executives also need to upgrade their skill set to remain in the competition continuously. Feedback from colleagues can help in ensuring the professional and personal growth of the business executives.
Like the benefit that an employee receives from the annual feedback, executives can also learn how a different leadership or business decision approach could have helped them in their performance. Subordinates with whom the executives engage regularly can offer good insights in such matters as they are the ones who observe the behavior and approach of senior executives.
Short-term successes and rewards dissolve innovation and creativity irrespective of an organization’s attractive incentive and compensation structure. On the contrary, colleagues’ recognition and acknowledgment motivate executives to strive to achieve complete results for all without getting confined by limited success.
Rewarding the Executives
Executive recognition also justifies rewards and the decorated perks offered to the senior executives in addition to their regular compensation packages. When the contributions of the senior executives are publicly recognized, their huge compensation rewards offer an appreciated justification for the difference in the pay packages with their employees.
Otherwise, it can give rise to resentment among the employees for working harder and yet receiving low compensation for their efforts. Executive recognition can help tackle such negative feelings.
Moreover, rewarding appropriate compensation to the executives for their work can include hefty packages or other similar rewards that enlarge their scale of success and adequately compensate for their business engagement, commitment, and relations.
How to Offer Executive Recognition
To establish a strong culture of feedback, appreciation, and recognition, participation from every management level is a must. Here are some ways how you can include the practice of executive recognition in the business culture:
Creating an Expressive Communication Channel
Generally, there always exists a communication gap between the senior management and the employees of a company. The administration should attempt to bring together the senior officials and different teams to a table for conversation in the form of multiple project committees.
A small meeting with a group of employees to initiate interaction with the senior officials will also help. It will allow the employees to understand the different approaches of the company and appreciate the visions and work of their senior leaders.
During such interactions, the management should encourage the employees to understand their leaders’ perspectives and provide feedback. The organization should motivate the employees to speak up before their leaders. This measure will make the employees feel valued at the organization and offer the leaders insight into their business effectiveness.
In addition, the management should promote feedback and dialogue sessions among the leaders and their teams to encourage the trend of upward feedback on the senior executives.
Recognizing Successes Frequently
Organizations should acknowledge senior leaders similar to how the employees are regularly appreciated and recognized for their new milestones. The senior leaders should not be left outside the loop only because they have reached the highest levels of their experience ladder.
Human beings are learning animals. Everyone learns something new every day. Organizations should hold executive recognition programs frequently to acknowledge the leader and their teams, similar to the employee recognition programs. The vision, approach, and success of the leader represent the values of the organization.
More importantly, the external success of the executives, achieved outside the boundaries of their business organization, should be showcased for appreciation and rewards as a part of cutting-edge competitive achievement. Such recognition infuses employees’ confidence and trust in their leaders and equally reciprocates on the executives in building their self-esteem and confidence.
Involvement of Executives in Different Programs for Building Trust and Relationship
Don’t confine the executives in making business decisions only, instead involve them in the managerial aspects of their business.
For instance, when introducing the employee recognition program or any new development at their organization, they should not only promote the initiative. Rather, they themselves should involve and participate in such programs.
It builds trust and respect among the employees and also increases the accountability of such programs. The top management should champion such initiates first to get a better perspective of their team and employees.
Lastly, such executive recognition initiatives can honor the executives’ qualities, including:
- Their creativity during challenging situations,
- Their leadership and other behavioral aspects,
- Their approach during any critical situations, such as ethical choices made.
These qualities are the main highlights of what makes an executive a successful leader within an organization.
Conclusion
Executive recognition may be a new and unfamiliar concept for implementation by the management of any organization, especially in a traditional business setup of leadership and control.
Nevertheless, it will gain momentum as an essential practice among organizations since the business world is undergoing structural changes due to the pandemic and lockdown. Moreover, the overall approach is shifting towards a more human-centric design.
Executives are also hardworking employees who draw inspiration and motivation from the recognition. Expression of empathy has a comprehensive impact on the workplace environment.
Executive recognition alongside employee recognition is indispensable in developing a strong culture of appreciation and motivation in businesses. The outcomes of adopting this strategy include job satisfaction, job engagement, and productivity.
