Recognition loses its power when delayed. A manager compares waiting months or years to appreciate employees to pouring Coke and letting it go flat. Praise works best the moment someone does something worth praising.
And waiting a whole year to be recognized, have them say thank you, just is not very meaningful. The longer we wait, the less impact it has. Sometimes when I've been doing a program, I'll begin by pouring a can of Coke into a glass, and I'll set it aside, and I'll leave it there the whole presentation. I get to the end of the presentation, I say, does anybody want that Coke? Nobody ever takes me up on it. Well, actually, one person did because he likes Coke. Flat Coke. But most people don't because the fizz is gone. Well, the same thing if we wait to recognize people once a year, or worse yet, once every 5 years at services where we celebrate people's 5 or 10 or 15 years service. It's not timely. And the impact— recognition is one of those things that should occur as soon as the opportunity presents itself.
