A recent CBS MoneyWatch article offered 5 signs you’re a lousy boss. All five examples were pretty bad, but one in particular caught my eye – bad managers consistently steal credit from their team.
Instead, what’s a telltale sign of a good boss? The exact opposite – they dole out credit generously. In fact, they use it as another form of compensation.
Employees are more than twice as likely to be engaged when they feel their manager understands what they do well, encourages them to use their specific skills as much as possible, and recognizes and rewards their achievements when they do.
Managers that acknowledge their employees—including those workers that may be pulled in on ad-hoc projects—are more likely to get better buy in on their mission and vision than those that don’t. In other words, managers who use credit as a currency get people to work for them with more enthusiasm and passion than those who don’t.
So what’s holding your managers back? Chances are no one is encouraging them to reward others –championing the benefits of recognition, and perhaps more importantly, there isn’t a system in place that makes the process seamless and intuitive.
We all have the potential to be a better boss and those in HR or sales ops can help everyone in the organization improve. Having an employee recognition program at your disposal makes that ambition a whole lot easier.