Inspired Leaders Workshop

The Power of Recognition

Key players in the company recognition field gathered together at the recent Inspired Leaders Workshop, focusing on The Power of Recognition. On the panel was Matt Norbury, CEO and Founder of Each Person, joined by David MacLeod OBE and author of Engaging for Success, Kate Bishop, senior HR expert, and Prof Chris Brady,  Prof Chris Brady

Kick-starting the conversation, host René Carayol MBE, broadcaster and author, set the context of why company recognition was so important. He said: “When engagement works well, everything in an organisation works well. When engagement isn’t present, recognition becomes an issue and we miss opportunities.”

Matt Norbury brought the panel and audience’s attention to the changing expectations of employees. He said that employees now expect much more from their employer in terms of emotional intelligence (EI), however this has not yet translated into the DNA of employers. David McLeod agreed, noting that if an employee was asked to jump, rather than say “how high?” they would now ask “why?”.

The panel also agreed that there has been a shift of mindset when it comes to company recognition, with employers now better understanding that an employee’s life outside of work is just as important as their life at work. Critical to this was fully understanding the individuality and unique needs of each employee and meeting those needs as a business in an authentic and spontaneous way.

The importance of investment in technology was also discussed, with Matt noting that organisations need to be in tune with the rapid rise of smartphone use. Matt said that many organisations are very far behind, but that it was vitally important to recognise that employees consume information on their smartphone outside of work, not on company intranets.

Matt also noted that organisations need to take a long term view on company recognition and understand that if each employee feels valued they would be more productive and would talk more positively about the business.

For more details about the event and speakers, visit www.inspiredleaders.com/the-power-of-recognition