Think before you thank
Ringing bells and exuberant award ceremonies are not everyone’s cup of tea when it comes to being thanked.
I believe that technical experts will solve our world’s greatest problems. They will find the answers to complex problems like climate change, homelessness, pandemics, pollution, poverty, societal collapse and more. There is (and will be) a lot to thank them for.
Research and management consulting company Gallup tells us that “the most effective recognition is honest, authentic and individualized to how each employee wants to be recognized”. But recognition researcher Christopher Littlefield found from speaking to 365 strangers on the Boston subway that 70% of people associate embarrassment or discomfort with the process of receiving praise.
So when it comes to technical experts, why do many leaders struggle to get recognition right? In my experience, most technical experts are motivated by solving technical problems, overcome insurmountable challenges and achieve the unexpected.
The intrinsic reward - the joy of simply doing the work, having autonomy to carry out the task, and the opportunity to master it - and the respect and acknowledgement they receive from their peers, is often reward enough for them. Extrinsic motivations like public recognition are their greatest nightmare. They are terrified of being called up on stage, in front of their peers, and praised ad nauseum publically for a role they played in a team or company success.
And yet this is what many leaders default to when they feel the need to acknowledge a job well done. Instead of feeling appreciated, the expert sees it as a sign of how little their leader understands them as a person. If anything, it deters them from bringing their talents to the next crisis.
A casual thanks from a respected colleague, an email of appreciation from a senior leader or a gift voucher presented quietly by their manager would have been a more appropriate approach to avoid embarrassment for the expert.
The possibilities are limited only by the creativity of the manager and the team. I've seen technical experts thanked with the assignment of a toy laptop that rotates around the team each month. I've sat in team meetings with an expert wearing the team's hilarious fancy dress costume, reserved only for those who received recognition that day. I've drafted messages for senior leaders to hand write into thank-you cards and slide under a keyboard, ready for the expert to quietly discover the following morning.
