How to Leverage Your Professional Association to Elevate Greatness by Recognizing Peers

For the last couple of weeks, we have been looking at?how associations can (and should) rock recognition?and?why they need to be intentional about it.

Do you belong to an association and yet have never participated in nominating a peer? I bet you have amazing colleagues (former and current) who deserve a shoutout for the quality of their work, generous contributions to others in the field, and even their support of you in your career.?

Maybe you’re thinking right now, “yeah, I should really put their name forward to be recognized!” Do you know what they could be formally recognized for in your association?

Most of us don’t. Let’s change that.

Elevating Recognition of Rockstars in Your Field

Many of the same shortcomings of organizations’ formal programs exist for associations too. The good news is that there is so much we can do to?amp up and elevate the effectiveness of association-wide recognition programs.?

If you have a leadership role in your association and want to return to the original intention of an association-wide recognition-rich program that is teeming with member accolades, read on. If you are an association member and want to fuel the nominations of invisible rockstars, before reading on, google your association; no doubt on the website is a recognition program just begging for greater participation!

Two things to keep in mind. Many associations have a formal awards/rewards system. Think conference awards ceremonies, member-of-the-year type awards and plaques. We’ll talk here about how to do these better, such as getting more members to participate in them. Remember, these will continue to fall flat if not teamed with recognition. So, personalized, meaningful gestures ensure people feel individually seen, heard and valued.

Associations’ awards/rewards programs with a?corporate shine to them and feel unrelatable likely have little member involvement. Let’s add some polish to bring the shine back.

If you want an even deeper dive into this topic,?here is a 20-minute interview I did with Tom Topping, an active volunteer leader in?SHRM?(the Society for Human Resources Management), who interviewed me live on association recognition best practices.

Here are some highlights:

1. Make It Easy?

Associations must have?easy-to-access, clear processes for members to nominate?peers, suppliers, partners, and anyone who elevates your industry. Nothing says “we don’t get you” by a non-member-friendly process.

• Make the link easy to find on the website
• Make the nomination process easy and categories clear
• Share the call for nominations in your newsletter when key dates are coming up?
• Tie awards into key events like conferences and your profession’s appreciation week

2. Make it Meaningful

When members land on your website or read the call for nominations, do they?automatically think about someone who deserves that award? Or, is the award full of jargon, focused on association “values” rather than member behaviours, and focused on things that members don’t really care about? Let members “see” themselves in the awards.

• Use language to describe awards that are about members (not the association)
• Change “we/us” to “you” (e.g., Do you know someone…” versus “We recognize people who…”)
• Highlight past recipients and spotlight their stories
• Make the awards personalized

3. Make Recognition Ceremonies Engaging

Have you been to a recognition event and checked your watch every five minutes, wondering, “when will this be over?” That there is a seemingly endless number of people up at the podium and long-winded speeches by people you don’t know. If association members don’t want to be at the event, they will not likely engage in next year’s nomination process. So make it fun, fabulous and an opportunity to invite everyone in attendance to recognize actively rather than listen passively. What if?anyone in the room could get involved??

• Have an engaging emcee who encouraged participation beyond clapping
• Mix up the flow such as videos, quizzes, speeches, etc
• Invite the audience to participate in recognition (e.g., write kudos cards)
• Encourage attendees and non to take to social media with a recognition hashtag

4. Value the Recipients

Once your award recipients are selected, how do you make it easy for them to accept their awards? Do they have a barrier to getting to the place it’s given out, such as your annual conference? Do they feel like more than a number when they get it? Are they inspired to “pay it forward” by being encouraged to be part of reviewing nominations for next year? Make recognition awards more than a task to be completed, and instead,?one of the most magical ways to engage and retain members:

• Give recipients a discount or gifted attendance at the awards event (or even the conference if that’s where it takes place)
• Ensure names are pronounced accurately with attention to phonetics
• Add personal details rather than just read names if possible
• Ensure names are spelled correctly on plaques, slides and in newsletters?

5. Value the Nominees

Do you ever wonder what happens to your nominations? Ideally, we want an association culture of recognition where people?cannot imagine not nominating someone. That requires people to believe?it’s a process of integrity.

• Make it easy (point #1)
• Provide a confirmation message that the nomination was received
• Send a follow-up “thank you for valuing your colleagues” (get fancy with a video reply with something like BombBomb)
• Update how many nominations have been received so far and encourage more
• Consider other ways to elicit recognition, such as posts on social using a common hashtag

6. Listen to Members Through Recognition

By including small acts of recognition, as suggested above, you not only create a greater spirit of recognition and connection, but you will also begin to notice themes emerge within the appreciation messages; what members value most are the things they write about in their nominations.

What do you do with this to fuel member value and engagement?

If resiliency is a common theme, how can this impact the focus of your year and be used when establishing your association’s priorities for the year? Members may not make the connection, “oh, they must be listening because that’s what I was talking about when I recognized Zena!” It will resonate, however, on an intuitive level.

• Share key themes in submissions to your newsletter?
• Use it to pick the theme for the year and next conference
• Launch a social media campaign with them collecting tips/stories
• Host more PD sessions throughout the year on that topic
• Elicit recipients to share their tips and lessons (e.g., in a short video)

If you are a member and these tips aren’t apparent to you, give your association a gentle nudge (such as forwarding this blog.) If you are a change maker in your association (or want to be by taking the lead on amping up your recognition program),?pick one improvement that will increase the volume and quality of nominations.

The Last Word

Awards are only as good as the recognition that comes with them. When recognition is a fundamental part of your association, the awards become much more meaningful. Without recognition, awards are simply transactional – you did something well and got this award, but it’s over. However,?when you combine awards with recognition, awards become a way to reinforce what’s already working. By continually recognizing members regularly, you create motivation on an intrinsic level, and by providing awards, you affirm their efforts on an extrinsic level.?The balance of recognition and awards fuels a positive, recognition-rich culture where everyone feels connected and belonging.?

Recognition is important in any workplace – including professional associations. Continuously recognizing your members shows them their efforts are valued and appreciated, encouraging them to stay engaged and motivated. It doesn’t have to be complicated; small actions can make a big difference.?Ensure that your awards complement your recognition efforts.?Remember, people now, more than ever, are seeking a sense of connection, and recognition is how you can provide that.?

Associations, can we help?

Connect with us to turn up the effectiveness to retain, engage and delight members. We’d love to offer a few more ideas and possibly, “recognition” should be a topic at your next conference! Connect with me here, and let’s have?a virtual coffee chat.

You know we’re all about recognition, so of course, we have many more ideas to help inspire you:

• Kickstart Your Next Appreciation Event
• GREAT Recognition: 5 Key Ingredients to Events that Delight and Energize Teams
• 3 Ways to Recognize and Motivate in Uncertain Times

We love working together here at Greatness Magnified! This article was a co-creation between Mallory Dunbar, Learning Specialist and Sarah McVanel, Chief Recognition Officer.