Remember Napoleon!

This article really serves no other purpose than for me, a proud grandfather, to show you a picture of 11 year-old school captain and great swimmer, Hadden, with the 4 ribbons he won in district swimming events recently.

Well, there is another purpose actually. That’s to remind you to regularly (and irregularly) reward the performance of your people. Remember though, not only your team members but suppliers, clients and customers, and anyone else you work with in some way.

It’s amazing how people respond to some form of token recognising their achievement and rewarding them be it a good word, slap on the back, ribbon, monetary reward or whatever. Quite simply it makes them feel special! And don’t we all like to feel special?

So why remember Napoleon then? Well, he famously said, “Men will die for a medal!”

He was trumped by Mary Kay Ash of cosmetic fame who said, “Women will kill for a pink car!” which is what she gave her top sale achievers. A pink Cadillac actually.

Oh! So, why did I use the phrase “regularly (and irregularly) reward…” Well regular, scheduled, expected awards like ‘sales person of the month’ or ‘customer service person of the week’ are always effective but they are expected. Even better are the irregular awards, the ones that are unexpected, surprise, come out of the blue recognition… they work gang busters!

And a final reminder! Reward yourself when you achieve a goal, a special effort or just reckon you’ve done a great job!