The ABCs of Recognition

Craig Morgan
September 08, 2025 • Estimated Reading Time: 9 minutes

In this issue…

The ABCs of Recognition - by Craig Morgan
Extra Insights: Thriving Workplaces: How Employers Can Improve Productivity and Change Lives - McKinsey
Weekly Motivation Boost: Become the Leader of Your Dreams - From Motivation2Study (YouTube)
Action for the Week: Declutter for clarity
Together with A² Coaching Systems: Helping you streamline, scale and elevate your coaching with new tech and how-to tutorials

🎯 EXPERT OF THE WEEK

The ABCs of Recognition

By Craig Morgan

“Times change, people change, but the laws that govern behavior don't. This is why it is called behavioral science."

Positive reinforcement is the right recognition of improved performance or of behavior that leads to improvement. It doesn't really matter if this reinforcement is tangible or social, scheduled or unscheduled, but it must be frequent, meaningful and as specific as possible to the employee and directly tied to their actual outcomes and actions. What matters most is that reinforcement is designed to cause performance improvement in a supportive way.

Managers who practice effective performance management are surprisingly quite popular with their employees, but being popular is not the only objective of positive reinforcement. Recognize specific performance improvements as soon as possible after the improvement result(s) occurs.

Every behavior has some consequence. When employees know that desirable consequences—bonuses, time off or just a pat on the back—are contingent upon good performance, they perform better. Though simple, people still don’t feel as comfortable with it.

If a company provides undesirable consequences for not performing well, performance will improve, but only as long as the threat is maintained (negative reinforcement). That creates a reservoir of hostility that no manager wants. There are times when you must use negative consequences, but in the most effective organizations that is only a small fraction compared to positive reinforcement.

"Manipulation is when you promise a positive consequence that you have no intention of delivering or cannot deliver."

Manipulation is when you promise a positive consequence that you have no intention of delivering or cannot deliver. When people know what to do to get positive reinforcement, they don’t feel like they are being taken advantage of. It is the responsibility of a manager to commit only to those things that he or she has the honest ability to deliver.

Some managers who hear that dismiss it as too simple to really work. But it does.

The most frequent comment I hear from managers is that they've been doing it for years. Well, they might have been doing bits of it like giving feedback or occasionally telling employees they're doing a good job. But unless all the elements are present and applied systematically, you're not practicing the ABCs. If you're not applying it systematically, you're not getting the maximum performance boost possible.

What we want to do is to show managers how to apply the laws of behavior to the workplace.

The term favored by most psychologists is 'behavior modification.' The pioneer in behavior modification was the American psychologist, Dr. B. F. Skinner, whose work demonstrated that behavior could be changed without resorting to psychoanalytic-type explanations.

Here are straightforward steps to help you deliver effective recognition.

Positively Delivery Feedback - Effective Recognition

Verbal recognition such as, "you're doing a good job," may be nice for someone to hear, but how does that person know specifically what to do to repeat that action the next time? Just as constructive feedback and coaching need to be specific, so does positive recognition. Leaders should acknowledge legitimate contributions specifically, which help to elicit additional “want to” energy and action from each performer in the workplace.

Timely recognition impacts job performance, the organization and customers/consumers directly. Identify the positive impacts of the performance to consciously reinforce the performer's action(s) to meet or exceed expectations.

Steps for Positively Reinforcing Performance

Step 1: Clearly explain the positive performance achievement and associated behavior that you want to maintain or increase.

Step 2: State the positive impacts of the performance on the customer, organization, the team and/or you.

Step 3: Genuinely thank the employee for their specific contribution.

The statements must be personalized so that the feedback is comfortable, authentic and conversational. That kind of recognition is more effective.

Try these methods to help you provide more positive feedback.

Giving Recognition - If you do not naturally or have not recently given positive recognition, this will encourage you to move outside your comfort zone.

Start small and relay short, simple messages of appreciation to someone that has made your work easier or better by their actions.
It does not need to be big and spectacular, nor does it require a big speech. Strive for a clear and unambiguous connection between the positive feedback and the accomplishment or result.
Timing is critical but, if it is more comfortable to write a note or card, this is fine. HR typically has cards/envelopes designed specifically for this.
When you are providing recognition, look the person in the eye, smile and manage your emotions to come across comfortably. Project confidence and sincere conviction.
Tailor your recognition to the person. It is your call whether or not to deliver a public message given the dynamics of each situation and individual.

Receiving Recognition

When someone is offering you positive feedback, avoid the impulse to interrupt them. The goal is to look them in the eye, smile and make the effort to appear comfortable and appreciative. Your response should generally be similar to, “Thank you for your kind words” or “I appreciate your feedback.”

Giving Constructive Feedback - The following are strategies to keep constructive feedback effective and focused on a positive or desired future.

Ask yourself if roles were reversed, how would this feedback sound to me? Would I be able to hear the value that it is intended to provide? If not, keep rethinking your discussion until you can clearly articulate the benefit(s) during the impending dialogue.
Be factual with the other person and be clear with them up front on how you intend the feedback to benefit them.
Practice the feedback. Nothing builds confidence like rehearsal.

Reminder: Please avoid sandwich feedback. If possible, do not start feedback sessions with a compliment, deliver a tough message and end with a compliment.

If you have good news and bad news, when possible, separate them.
If not, whenever you praise people, they will be looking for the bad news.
If you have to give them both at the same time, give them the menu first, say; “I’d like to talk about an issue that I have with your performance. And then I’d like to share something really positive with you.”

Receiving Constructive Feedback - Often, our own comfort level and apprehension regarding the feedback overshadows the content. Becoming defensive causes emotions to surface that can dull our thinking processes.

Make an effort to receive the feedback at face value and try not to internalize.
Ask questions to clarify any feedback that is unclear.
Avoid trying to explain your actions or give an answer/reasons immediately. After the dialogue, ask yourself, “Am I better off knowing what others are thinking about my performance?” This will make it easier to effectively act on the feedback.

As you grow as a leader, typically the scrutiny goes up. Learning to positively approach, give, receive and learn from constructive feedback will differentiate you and become critical to your professional success.

CRAIG MORGAN is the founder of the Gray Matter Advantage, a performance management and leadership development practice. He is a talent management and leadership development consultant and thought leader, and former executive who spent over 40 years raising the bar of performance with small to Fortune 50 companies. With Masters Certifications in Organizational Effectiveness and Transformation (Columbia, DePaul, and Jungian Institute), he led a national award-winning corporate university for Neumann Homes and led Organizational Development and Effectiveness functions for Occidental Petroleum and RR Donnelley.