Committee to Appreciate and Recognize Staff Updates - November 01, 2016
The Committee for the Appreciation and Recognition of Staff (CARS) consists of 25 staff members from across the system and was created to develop a new, fun, and engaging staff recognition program, generously funded by a grant from The Friends. Previously, these funds had been used for the staff recognition dinner popularly referred to as “library prom” but as this dinner has been so poorly attended, CARS wanted to explore a new approach for staff appreciation. We've met over the past couple of months and have come up with some proposals (see below and see attached) for recognizing staff.
- Large Scale Celebrations: We proposed holding multiple large scale events throughout the year for staff to attend as a group. Examples included (but weren’t limited to) Metro Library night at the OKC Dodgers or OKC Thunder, snow tubing at the Bricktown Ballpark, bowling at Dust Bowl, attending the OKC Philharmonic, attending the OKC Ballet, attending the OKC Art Museum, or attending OKC Riversport Adventures. Some of these events were envisioned as staff-only events while others would allow staff to bring 1 or more guests.
- Small, Local Celebrations: If there isn’t already a system of staff recognition in place within a department or library, we hope that supervisors will collaborate with their staff to setup just such a system. To help advance this system of recognition, we proposed to allocate $12/staff member from the grant for supervisors to use to reimburse costs incurred for staff recognition (e.g. breakfast/lunch/snacks, on-site chair massage, etc.). Our primary focus is not that supervisors have only $12 worth of recognition per staff member per year but they are instead encouraged to develop new avenues of recognition (or continue current ones that are well-received by staff) with a secondary focus of “here’s some funding to help reimburse costs incurred for staff recognition.” It was also proposed that examples of staff recognition (e.g. a ‘warm fuzzies’ bulletin board) be shared to the Intranet to inform and inspire departments and libraries who are developing their own method of recognition. Our primary desire for supervisors to focus on small, frequent instances of staff recognition segues into the final idea of recognizing diverse personality types.
- Recognizing Diverse Personality Types: The focus of this idea was on gathering information about how various types of employees prefer to be acknowledged in the workplace and to provide this information to supervisors. CARS looked at 4 of the main types of appreciation mentioned in The 5 Languages of Appreciation in the Workplace (acts of service, words of affirmation, quality time with manager, and tangible gifts), excluding the 5th type of appreciation (physical touch) for....obvious reasons. These 15 ways of peer recognition were also shared with the committee.
So, that's what CARS has been working on and now we'd like to hear from you. If you have any feedback about these proposed methods of staff recognition, suggestions of recognition methods that we didn't mention, or anything else pertaining to staff recognition, please leave us a comment. We'll leave this post open for comments until Wed, Nov 30 and CARS will discuss your feedback when we next meet (tentatively scheduled for Tu, 12/6).
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Comments
In the case of an individual being recognized would that staff member be notified ahead of time, before public announcement, just in case he/she prefers to just do their job without hoopla and would have the chance to decline? Their are people like that: sociable but not showy such as, but not limited to, long-time staff who retire but prefer no last-day party.
Hi Jim,
It sounds like the individual recognition to which you're referring might be more along the lines of the Annual Excellence Awards that were given out at FOCUS than to the proposals that we came up with. The only individual recognition component that came up in our meeting was related to recognizing diverse personality types, something which would be worked out between an employee and their supervisor. Does that help?
Yes.
Would it be possible that other staff could provide coverage for a period of time while supervisors and their staff could all do some kind of appreciation activity? We often help each other out to cover staff meetings, but I'm thinking a longer period of time, maybe up to 3 hours? That way we could vote on whether we want to do lunch, or visit a museum, or do a team-building exercise like The Escape OKC.
As you noted, libraries currently help each other out to cover staff meetings and other staffing situations. Helping one another in that way is an expression of appreciation and one that I encourage and support. If the activity you have in mind meets the intent for small, local celebrations, which as proposed states “Our primary desire for supervisors to focus on small, frequent instances of staff recognition segues into the final idea of recognizing diverse personality types.” And if the activity is considerate of the direct and indirect costs and its impact on our members and colleagues. Then a next step is to discuss the logistics with your regional director or supervisor.
Have I answered your question? Feel free to contact me if I may be of further assistance.
I personally really looked forward to the dinners. Every year I would take one of my best friends to the dinner with me. Then I would buy an extra plate for a second person on the years I would be "pinned" for 5, 10, etc. yrs.
I also have a lot of physical issues, so pretty much all of your "choices" do not appeal to me as I would have a lot of difficulty in participating if at all. I would want something I could share with a friend or family member.
For the small scale, I would say the onsite chair massage does sound nice. (Let's stay away from the providing snacks, here we do that for everything, so that would not feel very special.)
sbeckett
Susan, thanks so much for the feedback! I also think onsite massage therapy is a great idea. I won't speak to the large-scale activities comments, since I was not a member of that committee and others will have much more information. However, I was a member of the small, frequent, and local committee. Our wish was that each branch and department can decide how and when to celebrate. For instance, if you and your co-workers at Warr Acres already have frequent food-based celebrations, you can spend the money on something else. It will be entirely up to you and your managers to decide. - Breck
Hi Susan,
Large Group Committee is very open to other ideas. It's just six of us, so we certainly didn't think of everything! Please let us know other ideas you have!
We're not ruling out having dinners some years, but we want to make sure that over a 3-5 year cycle, there's something that everyone is interested in attending.
My eyes picked up on the on-site chair massages :D I remember one of the very first Focuses I attended, there were chair massages. It was very cool! My shoulders always have knots in them from my daily shelving routine that I do. I sometimes can get my bestie to give me a massage and she always says how knotted up my shoulders are!
I like the OKC Ballet and the Phil and the OKCMOA. But how about a Movie night? It wasn't on the list I don't think but movies are one of my favorite things to do with friends and family.
Jessica M
Downtown Circ
Movie night is a great idea. Does anyone have a favorite theater they'd like us to investigate?
Thanks! I like all of the theatres. Harkins is nice and central. We could start there. Or Penn Square Mall or AMC at Quail Springs. They are nice also. I don't know if they do group rates. I know Harkins does.
Jessica M
I would be happy to do some checking if you would like.
Oooh or how about board game night?
A staff and friends and family movie in the park event would be so much fun!
I like the idea of the location recognition, in addition to a bigger recognition for those who have achieved milestones. It doesn't have to be this specifically, but the idea of a lunch/breakfast or whatever is really nice and something I've missed. Everyone at that location has a chance to do something together. Even if a certain location already has potlucks, birthday cakes, all of which I like and serve a purpose, it's not the same as a recognition/bonding experience when the people being "appreciated" have to bring their own food!
Thanks, Ann! I agree it will be more special to be recognized by your peers and to just be able to relax and enjoy the experience. Many branches already have or are forming local appreciation committees and I think that is something that could easily be addressed. Thanks again for your input!
Hello! For the past few months, NW has been conducting monthly little things for staff morale, with an overarching theme for the month. This month is having folks write things they are thankful for in their jobs on fall-themed cutouts and sticking those to the manager office window. Our planning conversations for these little initiatives inevitably take into account the scope of what we are able to do for no money - we don't want the people who have volunteered to be on the committee that plans local events to have to shoulder costs, and I am very heartened by the suggestion that we could end up with a small "local appreciation" fund which would broaden the scope of what we are able to provide while taking the pressure off the planners. We would be good stewards of the funds!
Two thumbs WAY up! Thanks for all your hard work, CARS!
Mark Schuster
Thank you CARS committee for all of your hard work!! Could you explain why local appreciation was allocated 30% of the Friends grant, leaving 70% for system celebrations? While I am excited for both system and local appreciation, I would like to see a more equitable distribution between the two types. Often times local appreciation is paid for by staff members, so additional funding would be great. Thanks for your consideration!
Ashley,
I'll be happy to ask at the next meeting about adjusting this ratio. I can't remember where we pulled the number from, but I'll be sure to come back with better answers.
:)
I love the idea of Thunder games, and also unique activities like the OKC philharmonic, ballet, art museum. Bowling as well, as this always is a good time, though I understand some people have physical limitations. Movies are great and all, but going to a movie is so commonplace it would feel less special and thus be less interesting to me. Particularly I like the activities that encourage sociability among coworkers. My two cents.
I like being recognized...pretty much any way you want to give it, but my favorite way would probably involve mixing with each other's spouses, children, parents, etc., and maybe having a meal, even a potluck, or just a dessert. That said, I also don't like driving to OKC for any reason other than work, although I did attend and enjoy last year's staff dinner. Even just going around the room and saying one nice thing about each of your co-workers is a nice thing to do. On the other hand, some people dislike being recognized, so maybe it isn't a nice thing to do. Sorry this is so circular.
Informal food occasions are my favorite thing! But going around the room facehole-saying a nice thing about each coworker seems like it would take forever and be super awkward. But remember when Pauline had us all write down nice things about each coworker and then she compiled them into cards for us? That was really cool! I still have mine. I'd be on board with doing that every year. With accompanying snacks.
Alice, I totally feel you! I refuse to drive north of 63rd street! When we pass off the large group activities to Staff Association, I'll be happy to mention planning rotating activities in our different regions. Would that be a good compromise?
I agree with Alice.
When I'm not at work, my family is everything. I have two adult daughters, but also a 9 year old son who is autistic and I try to make sure I spend ALL of my time working with him when I'm not at my job.
I attended a few of the dinners over the years and they were nice and all, but I didn't like the fact I couldn't bring my children. At all of my previous employers, we had company picnics, Christmas parties, etc that the entire family was invited to be part of.
My oldest daughter is a loan officer at Tinker Federal Credit Union and they have a day each year where the company reserves Andy Alligator's for a company party. The employee is allowed to bring one person for free, but can bring as many other family and friends for $20 each. I love going to that each year because it's something I can do with my wife, my adult daughters and my 9 year old son. I know something like reserving Andy Alligator's would be too expensive, but something like renting a pavilion at a park would be quite easy and affordable. You could save even more money by making it a pot-luck type event, or a chili cook-off with prizes for the top chili recipes, etc.
My daughter works at Tinker FCU also and her family enjoyed that time at Andy Alligator. She used to work for another large credit union and they would do Frontier City, Orr's Farm and one year at their Staff Development Day, they held it at one of the theaters and after the morning sessions (much like ours) they were able to watch a movie or leave for the day.
just throwing out ideas.
"Some of these events were envisioned as staff-only events while others would allow staff to bring 1 or more guests."
As much as I enjoy my coworkers, I am highly unlikely to attend an event, if I can't bring my fiancé. I might be in the minority, but I think this is worth considering and researching before spending money on an elaborate idea like the OKC Ballet or OKC Thunder. I know a handful of employees who wouldn't go to a Thunder game without their spouse or child.
I'd love to see some internal competition on book displays. I know that many staff are proud of their best displays and I think a monthly award, voted on internally by staff via uploaded photos, would be a fantastic way to encourage one another, improve morale, and perhaps most importantly, market our product.
Hi Kara,
I think the committee mentioned library/department decorating or display competitions. It's a great idea, and I do hope that we can do it. What kind of prize do you think would be good to award to the winners? Using the photos or winner's photos in the system's social media accounts would be a good way to share our resources and the fun.
-Jessica
I love all of the ideas. I think the Riversport event would be awesome. I would love chair massages. I would like to see the small scale events as more than allocating money, and more of encouragement and followup with managers on what they are doing. But, what do I know. You all seem to have it under control. Thanks for all of your hard work!
Thanks for your comment, Vicki! I agree that it is very important that managers and supervisors get involved with increasing opportunities for appreciation. Gifts (which require money) are just one type of appreciation. But many other types of appreciation, (more one on one time with a manager, helping someone with a work task, kudos, and other activities) would not cost anything. As several people have pointed out here, they have specific preferences for how they would want to be appreciated, (or not). I hope this shows managers how important it is to have conversations with the employees they supervise about personal preferences. Throwing a big party for someone who is an introvert and would not like the attention might have the opposite impact of what was intended.
That would be great! I know that we once had a cheap traveling trophy. That would be an affordable way to acknowledge the best displays.
For the local - I love food.
For any other "Show me the money."
Thank you for asking