#104: Recognition Done Right with Debra Squyres

As Bonusly's Chief Customer Officer, Debra combines her passion for an exceptional customer experience with her drive to empower companies to connect, motivate, and engage their employees to build winning workplaces. Prior to Bonusly, Debra was the VP of CS at Beamery and the Chief Client Officer at Namely, to name a few. She has over 25 years of experience in senior leadership roles in Human Resources ranging from in-house HR leadership to HR Consulting, Outsourcing, Client Services, and Customer Success working directly with HR teams across a variety of industries. She currently resides in Fort Worth, Texas with her husband. Top 3 Takeaways Dial it in. Recognition needs to go beyond generic praise to be specific and meaningful. It should connect individual contributions to company values and business outcomes. Make the connection. In remote work environments in particular, leaders must create opportunities for connection and recognition. There are no hallway conversations online. Frequency counts. Career development should happen in the flow of work through regular coaching conversations and recognition. Aim for a weekly basis if not even more frequent. From Our Sponsor The Predictive Index (PI) is an award-winning talent optimization platform that aligns business strategy with people strategy for optimal business results. More than 60 years of proven science, software, and a curriculum of insightful management workshops make PI the solution for any company looking to design great teams and culture, make objective hiring decisions, foster engagement, and inspire greatness in their people anywhere in the world. More than 10,000 clients and 480+ partners use PI—including Nissan, Citizens Bank, Subway, Blue Cross Blue Shield, and Omni Hotels—across 90+ countries. Learn more at predictiveindex.com. From the Source "You have to reimagine the traditional top down recognition and rewards as a system that creates culture, a culture of positive recognition and influences the right business outcomes. So moving from just feel good to feel good and do good." "There's a real connectivity to helping the business achieve its objectives by helping people feel valued and recognized for the great work that they're doing." "When we shifted overnight to remote work for everyone... we lost a sense of connectedness and the ability to build real relationships in the workplace... we have to reimagine how we gather around the proverbial water cooler." "Every generation that comes into the workplace gets this pushback on their expectations... but really the greatest value that each generation brings is that they push the envelope. They take what the prior generation did, and they push it further because they see a different possibility." "Generic recognition, like 'great job,' or 'thanks for holding the door open' doesn't cut it. People see right through that... You have to be specific. You need to take the time to say something meaningful about what they did or how they did it." "Recognition and catching people at their best, whether it's living the values or achieving great outcomes is one half of the career development equation... The other piece of it is constructive feedback." "We've made career development this big thing over there that we have to stop everything else to do... That's not how the world works. We move much faster than that. If you're not looking at this on a weekly basis as part of your normal rhythm of how you engage with your team members, then you're missing out on the real opportunity there." Connect with Debra Website: https://www.bonusly.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/debrasquyres