Have you Wowed your employees lately?

I came across an interesting post earlier this week at Jay Sheperd’s Gruntled Employees blog with a great message on recognition. In the post he explains how awarding workplace “Wows” could one day replace traditional annual performance reviews.

Here’s a piece of the story:

My daughters go to elementary school in Newton, Massachusetts. The principal — who is, sad to say, retiring this year — is a brilliant, caring, dynamic educator named Christine Moynihan. One of our favorite things about her — and there are many — is that from time to time, she makes schoolwide announcements over the loudspeakers in which she awards chidren “Wows.”

What is a "Wow"?

A “Wow” is a short description (maybe three or four sentences) of something a pupil did to earn the Wow (yes, it's self-referential; get over it). Examples include working extra hard on a particular project, helping a classmate during a difficult situation, or showing unusual courtesy or friendliness or determination. Dr. Moynihan says the Wow winner’s name and describes what he or she did to earn the Wow. That's it. It’s short, it’s public, it’s concrete, it’s earned — and it makes the kids feel great.

The only thing closest to a “Wow” in the workplace is the annual performance review, says Jay, something that as an employee and employer he hates. Jay is not alone on this one. Remember the Wall Street Journal article from last year suggesting that we should get rid of the employee performance review all together?

Instead of waiting an entire year to discuss performance, Jay thinks there’s a better way:

I propose that we replace formal annual performance evaluations with a workplace equivalent of the Wow.

Jay’s “Wow” delivery system would use the power of Twitter to force managers to deliver focused and public employee performance recognition (read his guidelines for a “twevaluation”).

Whether you choose to use Twitter, the company newsletter or the company’s PA system, anyone can mold Jay’s “twevaluation” idea into something that works for your company.

Employee recognition should be heartfelt and should happen often, no matter how you decide to deliver it. Say it in a tweet, write it in a card or simply stop by an employee’s desk to tell them how much you appreciate the work they do. You’ll be surprised at how simple and easy employee recognition can be.

How do you “wow” your employees? Please leave a comment and let us know what works for you.

Top 10 learning tools for training pros

For the past few years, Jane Hart of the Centre for Learning & Performance Technologies has been asking learning professionals, from education and training, to chime in on what productivity tools would make their personal top 10 list.

Right now, Jane is in the process of compiling the Top 100 Tools for Learning in 2009 and it’s looking like a tough race. As the rankings stand today, here are the Top 10 Tools for Learning:

1. Twitter - Microblogging tool
2. Delicious - Social bookmarking tool
3. Google Reader - RSS/Feed reader
4. Wordpress - Blogging tool
5. Google Docs - Web-based documents
6. Skype - Instant messaging/VoIP
   
7. Slideshare - Hosting presentations
8. Google Search - Web search tool
9. PowerPoint - Presentation software
10. Firefox - Web browser and extensions

It’s interesting to see what other professionals out there are using, but even more interesting to see how the trends have changed over the past few years. Last year it was Delicious, Firefox and Google Reader at the top and Twitter ranked down at number 11.

Almost 100 learning professionals have shared their top 10 learning tools so far this year. Visit Jane's site and suggest what tools you think should be at the top.

Twitter tips to help you stay productive at work

New online tools emerge everyday with the promise that they will improve our workdays, keeping us more productive than we’ve ever been before. While some of these tools do improve personal productivity, others can be a complete waste of time.

Twitter is one of those tools that has proponents on both sides of the productivity argument. One little bird with one simple question has taken the social media world by storm, presenting limitless possibilities both in the workplace and in our personal lives.

If you’ve started using Twitter at work, you may have found that all of the connections you make and information you find can be beneficial during the workday. However, you can easily get lost in the overload of information and find yourself wasting time.

Stop wasting your time and follow a few of these tips for using Twitter to improve your productivity:

• Disconnect. Not all the time, but turn Twitter off from time to time and completely focus on the task in front of you.


• Connect with coworkers. Instead of sending an email, or calling someone in the office to ask a simple question, ask them on Twitter. Sending a direct message on Twitter to a coworker can help you get the information you need in a non-distracting way.


• Use Twitter search tools. You can use the Twitter Search site or search directly from whatever Twitter platform you're using, to find out what people are saying about anything you're interested in.


• Remind yourself. Simple Twitter applications like Timer can help you manage daily tasks. Simply send a direct message to @timer and the program will tweet you back with a reminder at the time you set.


• Follow people who share valuable information. If you try to only follow people who share valuable information, there will be less nonsense to sort through.


• Subsribe to TwiTip. TwiTip is a blog dedicated to everything Twitter related. Darren Rowse delivers great information daily on the latest must have Twitter tools to help you get the most out of your tweeting experience.

Have you tried to use Twitter at work, does it help you to be more productive or is it a complete distraction?


Here are a few more posts on productivity and Twitter you should check out:

Productivity tips: How to become a ‘task ninja’

Top 8 ways trainers can use Twitter

How to use Twitter for training

Personal productivity training, six simple tips