Welcome! The idea of spirituality in the workplace has been growing over this last decade in staggering ways. Organizations are cropping up all over the world to help establish a support system for businesses to find new ways of transitioning the old patterns that seem no longer acceptable in the business world. This page was inspired just for this purpose.
On Appreciation:
"Thankfulness is the beginning of gratitude. Gratitude is the completion of thankfulness. Thankfulness may consist merely of words. Gratitude is shown in acts."
-- Henri Frederic Amiel 1821-1881 Swiss Philosopher, Poet, Critic
From the moment John founded Adams and Adams Building Services, Inc., he made a point of acknowledging good work among his 350 members (employees). Over the years, he continually tried to improve his "pat-on-the-back" techniques, but one hurdle he faced was getting his supervisors as invested as he was in the practice. "I always like to say thanks," says John. "But a lot of our managers had a hard time saying thanks as readily. So I needed a way to make it easier and quicker to acknowledge good work at the moment it occurred, not six months after the fact."
To address these issues, John created the Instant Recognition and Awards Program (IRAP), which combined a recognition program with incentives. Supervisors were given a set of congratulatory notecards that were small enough to fit in their pockets. When a supervisor saw good work or an achievement among the members, this notecard was filled out with thanks for the particular effort and given to the member on the spot. These notes also doubled as tickets that were entered in a company lottery for prizes. There were three different levels of achievement that corresponded to a certaim number of chances in the lottery.
Twice a year, the company held a lottery drawing as part of their recognition gatherings. Members knew exactly how many chances they had because they knew how many thank-you tickets they had received over a period of six months. Six tickets were drawn with prizes ranging from answering machines, to VCRs, to trips. The cost of the program for the company was less than $2,000 a year.
The program received such high marks from both members and supervisors that John instituted monthly drawings of smaller amounts to make the thanks evern more immediate. He brought his unique ways of showing his appreciation with him to Life Without Limits.
Note: John's novel approach to showing his appreciation was included in a booklet published by Inc. Magazine entitled, "Managing People: 101 Proven Ideas for Making You & Your People More Productive," from America's Smartest Small Companies, edited by Sara P. Noble, 1992.
