To continue with my insights on the book by Marshall
Goldsmith, “What Got You Here Won’t Get You There,” this
week I will be discussing the habit of: Failing To Give
Recognition.

When I discuss recognition with most managers, they often
think of monetary rewards.  Unfortunately, managers who
are not good at saying, “thank you,” often feel that they
have done their jobs in recognizing employees when they
give bonus checks.  Monetary rewards are just the tip of
the recognition iceberg.  We humans are social beings.  As
such, we value recognition that enhances our relationships
and money does not do that.

HR CONTRARIAN POINTER: The three most important jobs of a
manager are:
- Be a source of positive reinforcement.
- Create opportunities for reinforcement.
- Have the ability to pinpoint behaviors & results.

In writing job descriptions for managers, I place these 3
functions at the top of the list.  If a manager has the
ability to pinpoint desired behaviors and results for
his/her employees, then the manager has the mechanism to
“catch people doing good things” and provide them with the
intangible recognition (e.g., verbal praise, a handwritten
note of thanks, public recognition at a meeting, etc.)
that they crave.

To continue with my thoughts on the book by Marshall
Goldsmith, “What Got You Here Won’t Get You There,” this
week I will be discussing the habit of: withholding
information.

Withholding information comes in two versions.  The first
version is people who purposefully withhold information,
which is usually all about power or control.  The second
version is people who unintentionally withhold
information.

HR CONTRARIAN POINTER: Fixing people who purposefully
withhold information takes serious professional help and
I’m an advocate of removing such people from an
organization as quickly as possible.  Fixing people who
accidentally withhold or forget to pass along information
is relatively easy.

Most instances of unintentionally failing to provide
information to others are the result of a hectic schedule
and numerous distractions.  In other words, a person feels
that he/she is just so busy that he/she can’t afford the
time to give instructions or information to someone.  If
you are prone to this habit, there are 2 quick ways to
resolve it.  First, you may need to purposefully set some
time aside each day to insure that you share information
with others, such as a 10-minute stand-up meeting each
morning at 9:00AM.  Or after every decision make a
conscious effort think, “Who else would benefit from
knowing this information?”

Don’t forget that habits are behaviors that we repeat.  So
why not purposely practice a good behavior until it
becomes a new habit?