Recognition – You Can Be My +1

Short post today … watching the Colbert Report the other day and he mentioned, “you can be my +1” when talking with a guest.  That linked somehow in my head to recognition awards that involve travel or some sort of party/event/celebration.

What if…

You gave each of the award earners for any recognition award the ability to invite a +1?

What if you had an award ceremony where you highlight the achievements of those receiving recognition and they then had to invite and then talk about how their +1 helped them get the recognition?  What if you allow those that earn your top performer travel award to invite a +1 – someone who was instrumental in helping them earn the award.  No one is an island.  We all rely on others to get our jobs done – and top performers are no different.  I'm also guessing Management might just be a little surprised on who their top performers pick as their +1.

Think about the goodwill.  Think about the value of extending the recognition outside the confines of the “committee” (I always think Communist Russia when I think of the "committee.")

And this could be used in almost any recognition structure – take Peer-2-Peer programs for example:  If you get recognized by a peer you have to add a +1 to your notification or you don’t get the reward/recognition.  Or if you have a departmental program – whomever gets the award has to nominate and recognize their +1.

If you think about it – the idea of a +1 for invitations to events is all about picking someone you would want to share that event with.  Why wouldn’t that same idea hold for recognition?

I think you should try this.

I think, on a scale of 1-10, it's an 11 (‘cuz that's one more.)