by Derek Irvine

Recognize This! — Psychologically healthy employees require appropriate compensation and praise for their efforts. Are the two in balance in your organization?

At a recent meeting discussing what contributions qualified as eligible for recognition, a meeting participant piped up, “Well, our hourly employees already get overtime pay for going above and beyond, so recognizing them would be like double-dipping.”

No. It doesn’t matter if you’re exempt or non-exempt. If you demonstrate desired behaviors in a commendable way, you should be recognized for it. It’s the classic discussion of the difference between compensation and recognition, which was the top of my most recent post on Compensation Cafe.

Check out the post for more on the topic, including a graphic illustrating the relationship between raises and recognition in terms of the amount invested vs the length of impact, Freakonomics research shared by Ben Eubanks, and even findings from the American Psychological Association.