And the Oscar for Employee Excellence Goes to …

If you, like me, were one of the tens of millions of people who watched the Academy Awards Sunday night, you saw a celebration of excellence in a profession. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences was founded in 1927. And, according to its website, “one of the first Academy committees was Awards of Merit. The first Academy Awards were officially presented at a black-tie dinner at the Roosevelt on May 16, 1929, honoring achievements between August 1, 1927 and July 31, 1928.”

Now let me put that in perspective for a moment. The Academy was formed in 1927, with the state of California granting its charter as a nonprofit organization on May 11 of that year. Films released beginning just three months after the Academy’s formal organization were the first to be recognized by the group for excellence. And every year since 1929, the Academy Awards ceremony has been held, making Sunday night’s celebration the 86th consecutive year the Academy has officially and publicly recognized the best of its best.

I must applaud those early Academy members for understanding just how important recognition is and doing something about it immediately. It’s easy to get caught up in our busy daily lives and forget to stop and recognize the achievements of those around us. I know that as a company, we don’t do this well, and the blame for that resides with me. You make time for what is important, and recognition for a job well done certainly meets that definition. So, in watching the Academy Awards last night, I was reminded of the importance of recognition and learned a few lessons from a group that has done it so well for so long.

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Make it a celebration! If you’re going to get together once each year to recognize achievement, then make it an event. I’m not sure black ties and evening gowns are necessary for an employee recognition program, but an annual event where people come together with their spouses and significant others is a great idea—in fact, a couple of stars, including the winner of Best Actor in a Supporting Role, Jared Leto, brought their mothers to the ceremony. How many Academy Award winners get up and thank their spouse and children? It’s wonderful to be recognized in front of those who mean the most to you.

Let their peers participate. I noticed last night while reading the credits (yes, I actually read some of them for reasons even unknown to me) that the Academy members in each category actually nominate their peers for the award—that is, actors nominate actors, film editors nominate film editors, and so on. Allowing the employees’ peers to participate in the process makes it all the more meaningful for the winners. Being selected for recognition by those who know what you do every day adds credibility to the achievement.

Give the winners a symbol of their achievement. How famous has that little golden statue given by the Academy become? Famous enough to be known worldwide by just its first name, Oscar. Kind of like Elvis! The recognition is the real prize, but giving the winner something to commemorate the achievement is important. These actors and directors, who are paid millions to make a movie, hold that little eight-pound trophy like their life depends on it. Sometimes that symbol is important.

Be consistent with the recognition. I said earlier that the Academy Awards have been held for 86 consecutive years. That’s quite a record of consistency. Did you know that the awards have been postponed only three times during that span and that all three delays were for just a few days? (If you’re wondering about the reasons for those three exceptions, they are the 1938 LA flood, the funeral of Martin Luther King Jr. and the assassination attempt on President Ronald Reagan.) The Academy takes the mantra “the show must go on” seriously, and any recognition program needs to do the same.

Have fun with your recognition! I don’t know about you, but I thought Ellen DeGeneres did a great job last night. She had fun and so did the audience. She was in the audience delivering pizzas, taking “selfies,” and just cutting up. On a night when there’s a lot of tension and anticipation, she managed to relax everyone and just have a good time. Sometimes we take things too seriously at work, and an annual opportunity to just have a good time is a good thing.

We should all learn a lesson from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and recognize the achievements of those with whom we work. Of course, it shouldn’t be something that we do only once each year, but a formal celebration of achievement can be a lot of fun and rewarding for those who deserve it most.