I’m excited. My proposal for a staff recognition program was approved today. It is a simple plan. I have learned the hard way that complexity doesn’t mix with starting things.
It has taken us an oddly long time to figure this proposal out. The state government has frozen salary increases and financial awards for higher ed (and other) state employees for a few years now. Everyone feels overworked. A program to reward staff might just feel…unrewarding. We’ve let these realities dishearten us, though. We have waited too long for some better day when we can make it rain cash.
But we can at least do something. I’ve proposed we offer official letters of commendation, an annual recognition ceremony, a past winners board, and a website. While these awards aren’t money, they could really help boost staff careers over time.
My favorite part of the program is that it will be value-driven. We’ve spent a lot of time developing closely held core values. These values have survived a few years, shown their mettle. They are all values I believe in personally, not just for work. But I think the values get lost in the daily shuffle, especially for increasingly busy staff. We will be giving out an award for staff who demonstrate each value. We’ll be asking our leaders to serve on the first year’s committee to make sure the burden of staff recognition doesn’t fall on the staff we are trying to recognize.
I love connecting daily work to something bigger. I think that is what I pursue all the time in my job, what I need to stay passionate. This program will start simple, but I hope it will make a big difference. I’m starting HR review and implementation tomorrow–I want to get it implemented for the whole department in a couple of weeks.
Any bets on whether I can get it done?