How can rewards and recognition be integrated into an organization's culture?

To be most effective, rewards and recognition should be embedded into a company's culture so that it happens on an everyday basis, according to motivational expert and author Bob Nelson. The following tips can promote such a change.

Get serious. Take rewards and recognition seriously; get involved and be creative.

Walk the talk. To promote a climate in which recognition thrives, senior management should model the behavior. If you don't have this, it creates a do what I say, not what I do culture.

Train managers. Make managers to realize that recognition is important. Teach them employee recognition skills; role-play, demonstrate, videotape and give them guidelines to practice.

Assemble a toolbox. Provide managers with the tools to get them started. Put together a custom employee recognition toolkit and distribute it to all managers. If you put the tools in their hands, they're more likely to use them.

Consider including the following items in the toolbox:

• a copy of a recognition book

• thank-you cards

• sticky notes with preprinted performance-based messages

• screen savers and or mouse pads with messages reminding managers to recognize their staff

• nomination forms for your organization's formal recognition programs, and

• wallet cards containing tips for effective praising.

Create a link. Whenever possible, link the recognition or reward to performance or some type of milestone, such as achieving revenue targets or implementing a new computer system.

Personalize it. Even for large organizations, see what can be done do to facilitate the personal part of rewards and recognition. Take steps to make it part of every manager's personal repertoire.