Recognition in the hotels and kitchens I visited for my books has two features that most programs lack. It is specific: the person is named for a particular thing they did, in front of the people who were there. And it closes a loop: when a colleague uses the authority they were given and it works, the recognition is what tells the whole team that the authority was real. This page collects twenty ways the leaders in the books recognize their people, and gives you a planner to run a month of it.
Where it comes from
The clearest statement is in Chapter 5 of The Luxury of Attention. When an empowered decision works, the leader names the team member to the wider team, by name, for what they did, and the team registers that empowerment is rewarded as well as authorized. The chapter calls that step the one that completes the loop. Chapter 4 adds the other half: recognition from a manager who takes care of the team is what the team remembers for decades.
“He took care of me, knowing I needed to be at my best for my department to succeed, even if that meant finishing my shift for me.” Aaron Kaupp, then general manager of Le Royal Monceau, Raffles Paris
The earlier book on hoteliers records the mechanisms. Ayman Gharib, then general manager of Raffles Dubai, described Colleague of the Month, Colleague of the Year and Most Mentioned Colleague awards, a weekly Raffles Champion, and a practice of senior managers spending a day shadowing a colleague in an operational department to understand the work. Adrian Gray, then general manager of Lotte Hotel Moscow, presented certificates and vouchers at monthly team meetings and organized external gatherings. Aaron Kaupp rewarded the colleagues who made the most substantive discoveries about guests with lunch or dinner.
Twenty ideas
Specific and in the moment
- Name the person at lineup, for one thing they did yesterday, with the detail.
- Read a guest’s comment aloud, with the colleague’s name, in front of the shift.
- Tell the colleague’s own manager what you saw, within the day.
- Send a handwritten note to the colleague’s home.
- Have the guest who was looked after write the note.
Tied to attention
- Reward the most substantive guest observation of the week with lunch or dinner.
- Recognize the colleague who caught a fault before it reached a guest.
- Recognize a decision made without permission that turned out right.
- Recognize the colleague who covered for someone, as well as the one who was covered.
- Keep a “most mentioned colleague” count from guest comments and announce it monthly.
Public and regular
- Colleague of the month, chosen on named incidents rather than on votes.
- A weekly champion, announced at the same lineup every week.
- Certificates presented at the monthly team meeting, by the general manager in person.
- A wall in the heart of house for guest letters that name a colleague.
- An annual award presented in front of families.
Given in time and trust
- Finish someone’s shift so that they can be at their best for what matters to them.
- Spend a day working alongside a colleague in their department.
- Hand over a decision, with the authority written down.
- Put the colleague’s name on a dish, a cocktail or an amenity they created.
- Promote from within, and say in public that the person grew up here.
What is on the page
A one page planner for a month: four weekly rows and a monthly row, each with who, for what, how (from the list or your own), when, and who delivers it. A column to tick when it was done in front of the team. A final box for the one recognition you will give in person this week.
What to look for
Watch whether the reasons stay specific. The moment recognition becomes a rota (“it is housekeeping’s turn”), it stops doing the work the leaders in the books use it for. And watch who is delivering it. The strongest recognition in the books came from the most senior person present, in person, about something they had seen with their own eyes.