Kimberly Schwartz’s article in the Nov. 21 issue of The NEWS was interesting. Of particular interest were the comments by Chester Elton on frequent, specific, and timely recognition.

We have been practicing this with a program we started many years ago when we were a very small company. We are much larger now and still using the program, but like most programs, some changes needed to be made. We call it the “On The Spot Bonus.” Every supervisor is authorize to award these when they find someone doing something well and they are encouraged to err on the side of being too generous. They pass out a form to the recipient while the sweat is still on the brow. It tells the person that they will receive a $100 check for their efforts.

We post these explanations in the next company newsletter. As president of the company, I have been given the job of writing these for the newsletter. The most recent newsletter (we publish 4 or 5 per year) was more than four pages long.

This is just one of the things we do to recognize employees that perform well. This program has lasted much longer than other things we have tried.

Pat Rucker
President
Entech Sales & Service
Dallas

Publication date: 12/12/2011