Topical All OPSpedia

PagesContribute to Topical

Guidelines for Posting Comments

News

OPS Weekly

Poll Archives

Topical Video Archives

CategoriesSelect Category

Awesomeness is ‘on board’

by Samantha Glave, Ministry of the Attorney General

Inspiration comes in many forms. For Josie Eusepio, it was the TED talk The Three As of Awesome by Neil Pasricha, author ofThe

Book of Awesome.

“I realized that we take the small things in life for granted. I wanted to create a space where we acknowledge one another for

doing everyday great things,” said Eusepio, supervisor of the small claims, finance and enforcement department at the Brampton

Courthouse. And so began the Board of Awesome.

The Board of Awesome is a place for peer-to-peer recognition, encouraging employees to acknowledge the achievements of their

colleagues. Superficially, it’s a dry erase board affixed to the wall with three markers. To Eusepio’s team, it is much more than that.

You are here: Home » Ministries in Focus, Top Story » Awesomeness is ‘on board’

home ops wide ministries in focus people blogs events classifieds ops weekly contribute

4

Josie Eusepio (top) had the idea to create

a Board of Awesome in the Brampton

courthouse office, where Wahid Motahedy

(centre) was called a true team player, and

Julia Bryan (bottom) was recognized as a

helpful resource to clients.

Here’s what they’ve said about the board:

“It helps promote positivity in the workplace and for our team.”

“It’s a fun way to give acknowledgment to a colleague and make othersaware of awesome contributions they may otherwise be unaware of.”

“It gives you a boost to the ordinary or bad day that you’re having.”

“It allows people to feel validated.”

In a report about recognizing and rewarding employees in Canadian

organizations, the Conference Board of Canada found that recognition is highly

correlated with engagement, and can be helpful in retaining employees and

encouraging high performance.

Although it’s the least common form of acknowledgment among organizations,

peer-to-peer recognition has many benefits. Here are a few reasons why your

team should think about implementing its own Board of Awesome (BOA).

1. Personal, individualized recognition

Recognition is personal. People are motivated by different things. The BOA

allows employees to be recognized for their specific contributions, what they did

that made a difference. This type of recognition is more meaningful than the

typical generic email to an entire team congratulating them on a job well done.

2. Avoid the adverse effects of cash rewards and gifts

Although a survey by Maritz Loyalty & Motivation found that most employees

preferred a cash bonus as a form of recognition, many rewards and recognition

service providers do not recommend cash or gift certificates – once they are

spent, they tend to be quickly forgotten. What's more, authorDaniel

Pink suggests that monetary rewards can extinguish intrinsic motivation and

encourage cheating and unethical behaviour.

3. Acknowledge all who are deserving

It can be difficult for a manager to recognize staff if they supervise a large group

or if the nature of their employees’ jobs does not allow for much manager-

employee interaction (e.g., in court or on-the-road). These employees spend more

time with their coworkers, who are in the best position to witness and praise

their performance and accomplishments. Plus the board allows introverted or

shy employees to both give and receive the recognition they deserve.

No matter what form it takes, we all want acknowledgment — to know that the

actions we take and the work that we do makes a difference.

What employee recognition programs/tactics does your office have in place? Tell us in

the comments below.

Share this post

Report a problem or accessibility issue with this page

« « Previous PostNext Post » »