The Recognition Matrix: Make Recognition a Leadership Habit

A few years ago, on a catch-up call with a former client, I learned of an executive’s not-so-private struggle with recognition.

“It’s pretty bad,” my contact confided. “This person’s entire team feels driven into the ground and unacknowledged for their work. The team does fine work, but of all the teams in that department, people churn out of that one at the highest rate.”

My contact, who now leads the company’s Engagement & Belonging efforts, was deciding whether to address these growing concerns with training or with individual coaching.

Of course, this is a topic my team and I at Seen@Work cover in our Inclusive Leadership training for employees, so I was sure to mention that. But, before we got off the call, I also promised to send her a recognition framework I had been developing, just in case she decided to go the individual coaching route. “And with this particular framework,” I told her. “I think it’ll be pretty easy to turn it into a habit,” which is what I recommend for anyone trying to do a better job of recognizing others.

In fact, the framework I shared with her is one that I use myself.

Because the truth is that while recognizing peers, colleagues, and direct reports can come easily to some people, when the demands of everyday work and life compound, even the best, most intentional leaders can find it difficult to make time and space for recognition.

And that’s a shame because recognition is deeply necessary and powerful.

The Importance of Recognition

According to Gallup, employees who do not feel adequately recognized are twice as likely to say they'll quit in the next year. And as a 2023 Great Places to Work poll found, genuine appreciation from leadership can result in a 69% increase in the likelihood employees will bring extra effort to their work.

In other words, recognition - that is timely and varied and genuine - can go a long way to keeping employees happy enough to stay and do good work, both of which can directly affect your business’ bottom line.

So, here’s a framework that can help you regularly provide recognition to your peers and direct reports as part of a regular leadership habit.

A Recognition Framework

At the beginning of every month, I look back and I look ahead with the Earned/Expected Recognition Matrix. This matrix is one that I created at the beginning of the year and go back to monthly to track my recognition practice as it unfolds and to make intentional shifts along the way.

On one axis, I’ve written earned and unearned. Across the other, I’ve written expected and unexpected. This creates the four quadrants upon which I review and plot the previous month as well as plan my next: Earned & Expected, Unearned & Expected, Earned & Unexpected, Unexpected & Unearned. It takes no more than ten minutes and it’s worth every second. Here’s how it works:

• Earned & Expected recognition includes acknowledgement and celebration offered for the big milestones your team members or peers accomplished, particularly those that have become ritually recognized.

  For example: award ceremonies at the end of the year, big launch parties at the end of annual or regularly scheduled product updates, bonuses tied to team or individual performance

• Unearned & Expected recognition includes instances of recognition that are marked on the calendar as taking place no matter how an individual or team performs.

  For example: work anniversary celebrations, end-of-year or holiday parties

• Earned & Unexpected recognition is where things can become a bit more fun. It involves the moments when someone has done great work but there is no formal or anticipated moment of recognition ahead.

  For example: a small note left on someone’s desk, copying someone on an email to their manager describing something great they did recently, a shoutout at a high-profile meeting giving specific credit and praise to an individual that more often than not does their work in the background

• Unearned & Unexpected Unearned & Unexpected recognition includes gestures of appreciation that come out of nowhere and aren’t tied to any specific achievement. These moments remind people they’re valued for who they are, not just what they produce.

  For example: surprising someone with their favorite snack, sending a “thinking of you” message during a tough season, or bringing in bagels one morning just to brighten your team’s week

Here’s an example of what your Earned/Expected Recognition Framework could look like.

When you use the framework, consider the following best practices:

1. Use the same matrix over the course of one year

2. Refer back to it regularly, i.e. once a quarter or once a month

3. Use a different color for each quarter so you can see your progress

4. Vary the activities so they fall into different quadrants as you go

A Few Things to Keep In Mind

There are many reasons why a framework like this can help anyone develop a recognition framework and there are also a few ways to make your recognition habit even better once you start using it. However, first, let’s make sure we’re on the same page about a couple of things you may want to keep in mind while using the framework:

1. Just in case it isn’t clear, “unearned” recognition does not reward people for doing poor work. Instead, it acknowledges and makes space for the fact that people can and should be acknowledged (at least once in a while) just for being themselves. It also helps us remember that sometimes much of the work we do isn’t grand or exciting but it’s still worth acknowledging, especially as some of those thankless, common tasks accumulate and become the backbone of major individual and team accomplishments.

2. Something else to keep in mind: what’s “expected” of you as a leader may change as you become more comfortable with recognizing your team members and as they become more comfortable with this part of your leadership style. And that’s okay. The “expected/unexpected” part of the framework is less about surprising people who have gotten to know you and more about keeping the experience of recognition fresh yet genuine.

3. Lastly, while using this framework, here’s one more thing to remember: this is an individual recognition framework. It’s not just for formal leaders, nor should the fact that it’s a “leadership habit” suggest that leaders should be the only people practicing recognition. Leaders can and should encourage people across the team to recognize each other for good work. That’s the kind of thing that breeds a culture of recognition, which is great for everyone.

Of course, a simple framework is not enough to make recognition a habit, to make it an effective part of your leadership toolkit. You’ll need commitment, a genuine commitment to better acknowledging the people around you and showing that you value their work. My hope is that this framework serves as a tool that helps you channel and summon that commitment again and again until it becomes an engrained part of your leadership.

This article was written by Natalia Eileen, Seen@Work’s Founder & Principal Consultant. Learn more about Seen@Work and schedule time with Natalia and her team at seenatwork.com/consultation.