Award & Recognition

Last week at the Extendedstay America annual award dinner in the Dominican Republic,  I was recognized as the 2018 District Manager of the year. I want to take this time to say thank you to my team as this recognition is all about them. I could not achieved the 2018 results without the General Managers, Assistant Managers, Revenue Manager, Sales Managers and all of the other associates who created an environment for success by living a culture of putting people first and maximizing revenue.  

The names of the people responsible for the district success are: General Manager Lisette Rasario ( 2018 GM of the year) and Assistant Manager Chabely Perez. General Manager Cassie Smith (2018 3rd place GM of the year) and Assistant Manager Jose Suarez. General Manager Melissa Piedrahita and Assistant Manager Chris Grosso. General Manager Osccar Quinonez and Assistant Manager Cindya Padilla. General Manager Alejandro Arguello and Assistant Manager Mariela Martinez. General Maanger Maria Perez and Assistant Manager Micheal Taboada. General Manager Janelis Berroteran and Assistant Manager Lucy Escobar. Regional Revenue Manager Robert Spanos. Senior Director of Sales Kevin Axe. Thank you for your commitment and dedication, I am nothing without you. 

I want to thank Extendedstay America Executive team for rewarding and recognizing all of the 2018 winners. All winners received a seven day paid vacation in the Dominican Republic. 

Why employee recognition is so important – and how you can start doing it by Kim Harrison.

To be really effective in your job, you need to understand the importance of praising others for their good work, to apply the principles of employee recognition yourself and to encourage others to initiate it in their working relationships.

Specialist in behavioral science, Dr Ashley Whillans from the Harvard Business School, summarized this issue concisely in a 2019 article:

What really matters in the workplace is helping employees feel appreciated.”

Employee recognition is the timely, informal or formal acknowledgement of a person’s or team’s behavior, effort or business result that supports the organization’s goals and values, and which has clearly been beyond normal expectations.

Appreciation is a fundamental human need. Employees respond to appreciation expressed through recognition of their good work because it confirms their work is valued by others. When employees and their work are valued, their satisfaction and productivity rises, and they are motivated to maintain or improve their good work.

Praise and recognition are essential to an outstanding workplace. People want to be respected and valued by others for their contribution. Everyone feels the need to be recognized as an individual or member of a group and to feel a sense of achievement for work well done or even for a valiant effort. Everyone wants a ‘pat on the back’ to make them feel good.

See opportunities and act on them

There are two aspects to employee recognition:

1. The first aspect is to actually see, identify or realize an opportunity to praise someone. If you are not in a receptive frame of mind you can easily pass over many such opportunities. This happens all too frequently.
2. The other aspect of employee recognition is, of course, the physical act of doing something to acknowledge and praise people for their good work.

Yet Gallup analysis in 2018 found that only 1 in 3 US workers strongly agreed they have received recognition or praise for doing good work in the previous 7 days. Gallup consultants recommend that recognition should be given weekly in broad terms to those who deserve it – and in a timely way so the employee knows the significance of their recent achievement and to reinforce company values.