Recognizing and Engaging Employees For Dummies

Chapter 15

Selling Recognition to Senior Management

In This Chapter

Talking to executives in their own language

Creating a pilot program to try out recognition

Identifying the differences between senior management and employees that make it a hard sell

Recognizing senior managers for recognizing you

Sooner or later, you have to sell senior management on the benefits of recognition. For some, this time comes before they launch a new recognition program; for others, it comes when they need to continue or expand funding. The support and credibility that comes from top management endorsement is essential for a successful recognition initiative. With active support from the top, recognition initiatives take on a new urgency, encouraging employee participation at every organizational level. Without it, recognition programs and activities tend to be considered optional — or fads — and will consequently flounder or fail.

The road to recognition program success almost always passes through the offices of senior management, but as the preferences and priorities of top management vary widely, ...