Recognition is not just a nice moment for one person. It is instruction for everyone watching. Whatever a leader notices and praises becomes a clue about what matters. If you praise late nights and frantic heroics, people may learn that exhaustion is the way to earn approval. If you praise preparation, teamwork, and sound judgment, those behaviors become easier for others to repeat.

The goal is not to make praise constant or artificial. The goal is to make it specific, timely, and connected to the kind of workplace you are trying to build.

Why recognition starts with what you notice

Picture a team preparing for an important client presentation. At 4:45 p.m., one employee is still at her desk, moving quickly between screens. Another employee has already closed his laptop. He spent the morning asking the client careful questions, built a clear outline, and handed two sections to teammates who had the right expertise.

Which person looks busier? The first one.

Which person may have done the more valuable work? The second one.

It is easy to reward what is visible: staying late, answering every message, taking over a task, or rushing in to save the day. But visible busyness is not always commitment. Sometimes it is a sign that work was not planned, shared, or paced well.

A leader who recognizes only the dramatic finish can accidentally teach the team to create more dramatic finishes. A leader who says, “I noticed how you planned that work early and gave Maya ownership of the client questions. The team was calmer because of it,” teaches a better lesson.

This is one of the most important employee recognition examples: praise the decision, not only the result. Results matter, but the behaviors behind them are what a team can learn and repeat.

Specific praise beats “great job”

Vague praise feels pleasant for a moment, but it gives people very little information. “Great job last week” leaves the employee wondering: Which part? The speed? The quality? The meeting? The extra hours?

Specific recognition answers three questions:

1. What did the person do?
2. What effect did it have?
3. Why does that behavior matter here?

You can think of it as feeling, behavior, and impact. You do not need to use those labels out loud, but they help you build a message that lands.

Instead of:

“Great job on the project.”

Try:

“I appreciated how you raised the risk in Tuesday’s planning meeting instead of waiting until launch week. It gave us time to fix the issue without putting the client under pressure. That kind of honesty protects the whole team.”

Instead of:

“Thanks for helping everyone.”

Try:

“You noticed that two new teammates were quiet during the discussion, invited their ideas, and then made space for them to lead the next step. They contributed information we would have missed otherwise. That was generous and good teamwork.”

These are meaningful recognition messages because they identify an action and show its value. The employee knows what to continue, and everyone else learns what good work looks like.

Employee recognition examples for the behaviors that matter

Praise planning, not panic

Good planning often looks quiet. It may not attract attention until something goes wrong—and then everyone notices that one person prepared well.

You could say:

“You broke the work into clear steps before the deadline became urgent. Because of that, we found the missing information on Monday instead of Friday. Your preparation made the whole project more manageable.”

Or:

“I noticed you asked for the requirements before starting the work. That prevented rework and helped us give the client a more accurate answer. Thank you for slowing down at the right moment.”

Specific employee recognition examples praise the behavior behind the result — like thoughtful planning.

Praise delegation, not control

Employees who try to carry everything may appear dependable, but a healthy team cannot rely on one person to do every task. Recognize the leader who shares ownership and helps others grow.

Try:

“You could have taken that task yourself, but you gave Jordan the first draft and offered support without taking over. Jordan built confidence, and you kept your attention on the higher-risk decisions. That is strong delegation.”

Or:

“I saw you explain the outcome we needed instead of giving a list of instructions. It gave Priya room to solve the problem in her own way. That is how people develop judgment.”

Praise sustainable effort

Working hard matters. So does knowing when to rest, reset, or ask for help. Recognition should not make people feel that their value depends on being available every night.

You could say:

“You handled a demanding week with focus, and I noticed you set a clear stopping point instead of creating more work late at night. The quality stayed high because you managed your energy well. That is the kind of pace we can sustain.”

Or:

“Thank you for telling me early that the deadline was at risk. You did not hide the problem or try to solve it alone. We adjusted the plan while we still had good options.”

Praise listening and inclusion

Listening is more than waiting for your turn to speak. It means making it safe for someone to share an idea, concern, or different experience. When someone listens well, recognize the effect.

Try:

“When Alex disagreed with the proposal, you asked a follow-up question instead of defending your idea. That helped us understand the concern and improve the plan. You made it safer for people to speak honestly.”

Or:

“You checked in with the people closest to the customer before making the decision. Their experience changed our approach, and the final answer was stronger because you listened.”

Praise learning and recovery

People do not need recognition only when everything goes perfectly. Recognize curiosity, accountability, and the courage to learn from a mistake.

You could say:

“You owned the missed handoff, explained what happened without blaming anyone, and changed the checklist so we can catch it next time. That response rebuilt trust and improved the process.”

Or:

“Your first idea did not solve the problem, but you tested it, looked at the evidence, and changed direction quickly. I appreciate the way you stayed open and kept learning.”

Praise the work others may not see

Some of the most valuable contributions happen behind the scenes: documenting a process, answering a new colleague’s question, cleaning up confusing information, or preventing a problem that never becomes visible.

Try:

“The updated handoff notes may not be flashy, but they saved the next shift a lot of guesswork. You made it easier for someone else to succeed. That work matters.”

Or:

“You caught the small inconsistency before it reached the customer. No one saw the problem because you prevented it. I want you to know that your care made a difference.”

Ways to recognize employees in the moment

Recognition is most powerful when it is close to the behavior. You do not need a formal speech. A thoughtful sentence in a one-on-one, team meeting, chat message, or hallway conversation can be enough.

Here are practical ways to recognize employees without making praise feel routine:

• Say it as soon as you notice it. “I saw what you did in that meeting, and I want to call it out.”
• Name the behavior in front of the people it helped. This connects the action to its impact.
• Use private recognition when the employee prefers less attention. Ask how they like to receive feedback.
• Connect praise to a value or team standard. Explain why the behavior belongs in the culture.
• Ask a follow-up question. “What helped you approach it that way?” This turns recognition into shared learning.
• Keep a simple note of good work. Busy leaders often remember problems more easily than progress.

The last point matters. Leaders can form a story about someone as an underperformer and then notice only evidence that supports that story. Interrupt the habit. Ask yourself: What has this person done right? What are they good at? What progress have I missed?

That does not mean ignoring problems. It means correcting work without reducing a person to the mistake. Recognition builds confidence; clear coaching builds skill. Both are part of helping people do their best work.

Recognition should help people feel seen

A recognition message is stronger when it shows that you understand the person, not just the output. Learn what kind of work gives them energy. Notice the strengths they are developing. Ask what they hope to learn next.

The best leaders also listen when there is no immediate task to assign. A simple question—“How are you doing?” or “What are you seeing that I may be missing?”—can reveal information that never appears in a status report. When employees take a risk and share something honest, receive it with care. You do not have to agree with every point to show that you heard it.

This is where employee recognition becomes more than praise. It becomes a relationship. The person understands that their work is noticed, their perspective has value, and someone is in their corner. Over time, that sense of being seen makes honest feedback and better work more likely.

The culture behind meaningful recognition

Recognition cannot be separated from the daily experience of work. If a leader praises collaboration but rewards only individual heroics, employees will believe the reward, not the words. If a manager talks about sustainable effort but celebrates people for never taking a break, the real lesson is clear.

The answer is to make recognition match the culture you want. Notice people doing the right things. Celebrate choices that help others succeed. Give feedback in a form the other person can hear. When a correction is needed, make it specific and focused on the behavior—not a judgment about someone’s character.

This is the heart of the FISH! Philosophy. Its practices help leaders create a workplace where people choose their attitude, stay present with one another, make someone’s day, and bring playfulness into the work. These ideas are not a reason to put on forced enthusiasm. They are a practical way to build the conditions in which recognition feels real: people pay attention, care about the effect they have, and help one another do meaningful work.

When leaders live those practices consistently, recognition stops being an occasional compliment. It becomes part of how the team communicates, learns, and grows.

If you want to build a team where people show up energized, support one another, and celebrate the right behaviors, you do not need more complicated policies—you need a proven way of being. You can try out the FISH! Philosophy today by accessing our upgraded trial at a discount.

When you get started, you will receive:

The Original FISH! Film: The iconic, inspiring video that has transformed thousands of workplaces worldwide.

8 Actionable Training Guides & Video Modules: Step-by-step tools, facilitator guides, and team discussion prompts to help you put Be There, Play, Make Their Day, and Choose Your Attitude into daily practice immediately!

Start with one employee recognition message today

Look for one useful behavior before the day ends. It might be careful planning, a generous handoff, a difficult conversation handled with respect, or a problem prevented before anyone else saw it.

Then say what you saw, what it changed, and why it matters.

“I noticed ____. It helped ____. That matters because ____.”

That sentence is simple, but it can change the lesson your team takes from the day.

Employee recognition FAQ

Why is employee recognition important?

Employee recognition shows people that their effort and choices matter. It also teaches the wider team what behaviors to repeat. Specific recognition can build confidence, strengthen trust, improve teamwork, and make good work visible.

What are good employee recognition ideas?

Notice useful behaviors in real time and name them clearly. Recognize planning, thoughtful delegation, helpful listening, inclusion, learning from mistakes, sustainable effort, and behind-the-scenes work. Share praise in a meeting, one-on-one, written message, or quick conversation based on how the employee prefers to receive it.

What do you say to recognize an employee?

Say what the employee did, what impact it had, and why it matters. For example: “You raised the risk early, which gave us time to solve it before the client was affected. That kind of honesty protects the team.”

What are the main types of recognition?

Recognition can be verbal or written, private or public, individual or team-based, immediate or shared later. It can praise results, behaviors, progress, effort, learning, collaboration, or work that prevented a problem. The best type depends on the person and the behavior.

What is some good recognition wording for employees?

Use concrete wording instead of a vague “Great job.” Try: “I noticed you invited the quieter voices into the discussion. We heard an idea that improved the plan, and you made the conversation safer for everyone.”

The post The Danger of Vague Praise (And Better Employee Recognition Examples to Build Trust) appeared first on FISH! Philosophy Training.

It is Saturday morning and you see messages from your team. One person finished a big task. Another asked a clarifying question. Your first reaction might be to worry and issue a rule against working on weekends. That instinct is understandable. Leaders want teams to stay healthy and rest. But a simple rule can miss the real problem—and sometimes make it worse.

An after-hours work habit can tell a leader a lot—but only when the leader asks what is behind it.

Weekend work is a diagnostic signal. It calls for attention. It doesn’t tell you the diagnosis. It might point to disengagement, chronic overwork, or occasional, self-directed work. Your job is to figure out which, then respond in ways that restore work-life balance, respect choice, and protect capacity.

The short answer

A single weekend email is not a crisis, but a steady pattern of after-hours messages may be. Don’t make one-size-fits-all rules. Look for patterns over time and talk with people. Distinguish three realities: people who choose to put in a little extra work sometimes, people trapped in chronic overwork, and disengaged employees who are quiet-quitting.

Choice matters. Pressure matters. The work and the person both matter.

If someone chooses to spend an hour Sunday refining an idea, that’s different from someone who works every weekend because they fear falling behind. The first needs creative space. The second needs workload changes, staffing, or psychological safety to say, “I can’t do this alone.”

A blanket ban solves the surface problem but rarely fixes the root cause.

Why leaders worry about working on weekends

Leaders worry for good reasons. Long hours can erode sleep, patience, and judgment. Over time they cause stress that reduces creativity and raises error rates. Chronic long hours can push people toward employee burnout: emotional exhaustion, reduced interest in work, and an urge to leave.

Yet time logged outside work hours does not always equal damage. Some roles require off-hours presence. Some people do their best thinking at unusual times. A parent may choose evenings for quiet focus because daytime is packed with meetings and childcare.

So the key question is not, “Did they work Saturday?” It’s, “Why did they work Saturday?” That one word—why—changes the conversation from punishment to problem solving.

When working on weekends is a genuine choice, it tends to look calm, not frantic.

Weekend work can mean many things

Treat weekend work like a dashboard warning light. It tells you to inspect the system, not to replace the whole engine.

This pattern can point to pride and ownership. Someone might capture an idea quickly because they don’t want to forget it. It can point to a smart use of free time.

It can also point to overload: too many deliverables, unclear priorities, or a lack of help. It can point to fear—people who believe only visible exhaustion equals commitment. Or it can reveal a culture where busyness is rewarded.

Same behavior. Different causes. Your response should follow the cause.

A wise leader neither praises every late-night message nor punishes each one without inquiry. Curiosity and a small investment of time will usually reveal whether the after-hours habit is sustainable or dangerous.

Do not judge people by one habit

Quick narratives are tempting: “They never work late, so they must not care,” or “They work all the time, so they must be our most loyal person.” Both are risky.

People who log off at five may be highly deliberate and productive during work hours. They might be parents, volunteers, or athletes—roles that require time outside of the job and produce disciplined boundaries. That’s healthy and often a model to learn from.

People who work weekends may appear heroic, but they might be stretched thin, afraid to say no, or covering work that should be shared. Their visible effort might be a sign of a failing process or staffing shortfall.

After-hours behavior is not a test of loyalty or diligence. Use it as data to start a conversation, not as final judgment. Working late once in a while is different from a hard pattern that never ends.

Working late once in a while is different from a hard pattern that never ends.

The danger of a hard ban

A strict rule against working on weekends is tempting because it’s easy to communicate, feels protective, and aligns with the right to disconnect. But a hard ban used alone can produce unintended consequences.

People may hide work. They’ll delay messages, hide tasks, or do work in private to avoid being seen as noncompliant. That secrecy makes it harder to discover overload or to intervene early. It also punishes people who sometimes need to shift hours to manage life demands or to capitalize on creative timing.

A ban also doesn’t remove the workload. If someone has ten hours of work and only six daylight hours to do it, telling them to stop at five won’t make tasks vanish. The work waits and the stress remains.

Finally, a ban removes choice from people who can handle flexible hours without harm. Not everyone needs the same constraints. The smarter approach balances clear expectations with respect for individual schedules and the team’s needs.

Look for the pattern, not one message

One weekend email is a data point. Ten is a trend.

Begin by tracking frequency and distribution. Is after-hours work concentrated in one person or spread across the team? Does it spike after new initiatives, reorganizations, or when a particular manager is assigned? Does it happen at regular points in a delivery cycle?

Follow the pattern with a conversation. Ask whether the work was chosen or forced. Did the person feel pressured? Were they proud of the result or exhausted?

Numbers tell you where to look. Conversations tell you what to fix.

Choice and pressure are not the same

This distinction is central.

When weekend work is a genuine choice—occasional, energizing, and freely made—it’s often harmless. When it’s driven by pressure—fear of poor reviews, impossible deadlines, or invisible norms—it becomes toxic.

Signs of voluntary choice:

• After-hours work is rare and intentional.
• The person can say no without fear.
• The team doesn’t expect instant replies on days off.
• Work can be paused when life demands.
• The person talks about the work with energy, not dread.

Signs of pressure (and key signs of employee burnout):

• Late work is chronic and persistent.
• Messages come because managers do the same.
• The person fears missing goals or pay.
• They can’t keep up in regular hours.
• They apologize for resting and seem worn out.

No one should feel they must prove commitment by becoming permanently exhausted. Reward steady, smart work—not constant, visible sacrifice.

Ask better questions in a check-in

A manager does not need a dramatic intervention. Short, regular check-ins do most of the work.

Try questions that invite honesty:

• “How are you feeling about your workload right now?”
• “I noticed you were working this weekend. Was that by choice?”
• “What made it hard to finish this during the week?”
• “What would make the work feel more doable?”
• “Is there anything you’re afraid to tell me?”

Listen more than you talk. Don’t treat these conversations as audits. Treat them as problem-solving sessions. If someone replies “fine,” sit with that answer and wait—many people say “fine” by reflex, not truth. Repetition and consistency in check-ins build trust.

A check-in should not follow with punishment. It should open the door to change.

Make the work fit inside the week

When overworked employees are overloaded, telling them to rest is not enough. Shift the workload.

First, eliminate work that no longer adds value. Teams often keep tasks out of habit—meetings that yield no decisions, redundant reports, or legacy processes.

Second, narrow goals. People often work late because priorities are fuzzy. Make the top one or two goals explicit. Clarify what “good enough” looks like. If everything is urgent, nothing is.

Third, rebalance assignments. A leader cannot fix a role built for three people with a pep talk. Share tasks, reassign work, bring in temporary help, or adjust timelines. Make the scope realistic.

Finally, equip people with tools and authority to streamline work. Small operational fixes can reclaim hours.

When work matches the team’s capacity, weekend hours fall naturally.

Make rest normal, not special

Your behavior sets the tone.

If leaders ping the team late at night or respond immediately to after-hours messages, they signal that availability equals value. Conversely, leaders who model boundaries—taking days off, using send-later, and making clear that off-time is respected—create norms teams can follow.

Language matters. Say, “This can wait until Monday” when you send a weekend note. Use technology to delay delivery. Publicly thank people who manage workload well and also take time to recharge.

Rest is not a luxury; it’s essential for employee wellbeing and sustaining high performance. A rested team sustains quality, reduces errors, and solves problems faster. Normalizing rest keeps your people available—and effective—over the long haul.

Give people a safe way to say no

Many employees work late because they don’t know how to decline.

Make it safe to push back. Say, “If this won’t fit, tell me early and we’ll adjust.” Reinforce that asking for help won’t hurt careers. When someone flags a problem, thank them and help replan rather than punish.

Teach practical scripts and policies: how to re-prioritize, who to call for backup, and when to escalate. Normalize trade-offs. A safe “no” helps people give a focused “yes,” which protects both outcomes and wellbeing.

Be fair when weekend work is part of the job

Some roles require weekend coverage: hospitals, retail, hospitality, event management, and certain services. In those cases, outright bans are unrealistic. The solution is fairness.

Publish schedules early. Rotate tougher shifts. Allow swaps. Compensate work equitably—through pay, time off, or other rewards. Protect legal and contractual rights.

Fairness doesn’t remove hard days, but it makes them tolerable and predictable, which reduces moral injury and resentment.

Build a team where people want to care

There’s a motivating edge to weekend work that matters: people who care deeply may give extra hours because they’re invested in outcomes and the people affected.

Care is an asset. But it must have guardrails. Passion alone can lead to slow, steady burnout if leaders exploit it; saying “we need you to carry this” because someone cares is a short-term gain and long-term loss.

Help people find meaning within normal hours. Share customer stories, progress updates, and impact. Let people solve problems and use their ideas. Provide paths for growth so effort feels invested, not just expended.

When work matters and feels achievable, people give discretionary effort without surrendering work-life balance.

Real conversations help leaders find the reason behind after-hours work.

Small moments shape the whole team

Culture is made of small moments.

Notice what happens when someone raises an idea. Are they thanked? When someone struggles, does a coworker offer help? When someone makes a mistake, is it an opportunity to learn or to blame?

Leaders shape those moments. They matter more than a policy memo. A team that habitually helps each other will identify overload sooner, escalate appropriately, and share the load. That mutual support prevents chronic after-hours work from taking root.

Make asking for help ordinary. Make employee recognition for good planning visible. Those small interactions accumulate into a culture where people don’t feel they must sacrifice their lives for their jobs.

Watch your praise

Praise is instruction. If you reward the person who answers emails at 11:00 p.m., you teach the team that midnight messages matter. Instead, praise the actions that produce sustainable results. For specific wording you can borrow, see these employee recognition examples.

Examples of useful praise:

• “You planned the launch well and avoided a weekend crunch.”
• “Thanks for delegating early so the project stayed on track.”
• “You simplified the process so this won’t be needed next time.”
• “I appreciate you taking a break after that intense week.”

Praise that celebrates outcomes and healthy behaviors reinforces the practices you want replicated.

Do not turn care into spying

Monitoring capacity is responsible leadership; micromanaging people’s every second is not.

Track the right signals: missed deadlines, turnover, rising sick days, and increasing after-hours volume month over month. Use those signs to prompt conversations—not automated punishments.

If you rely on tools that track every click or app usage, you can create an environment of surveillance that increases stress and reduces trust. People who feel watched are less likely to ask for help or admit mistakes.

Care is active attention, not constant surveillance. Use data to guide empathy, not to enforce compliance.

Try a simple 30-day plan

You don’t need a big overhaul to start shifting norms. Try a focused 30-day approach that emphasizes listening, action, and learning.

Week 1: Listen. Conduct brief one-on-ones. Ask how workloads feel and what tasks are most draining. Record recurring themes.

Week 2: Pick one problem. Maybe too many meetings, an unnecessary report, or concentrated tasks landing on one person. Select an issue that’s solvable in the short term.

Week 3: Co-create the rule. Work with the team to set clear expectations about response times, coverage, and urgent triage. When teams help craft rules, they are more likely to follow them.

Week 4: Review and iterate. Ask what changed and what remains hard. Keep what worked, fix what didn’t, and repeat the cycle.

Small, sustained changes compound. A shorter meeting, a clarified priority, or a single honest conversation can stop a weekend of stress. Repeat and scale what succeeds.

Culture will do more than a rule

Two teams can face the same deadlines and the same headcount but show different outcomes. One team is exhausted and resentful; the other is busy and supported. The difference is culture—how people treat each other under strain and what leaders reward.

A weekend work policy can be part of a healthy culture, but it’s not the whole solution. People need clear priorities, real choice, fair limits, and managers who notice when capacity is strained. They need teammates who help, not compete on who looks most tired.

Treat people like people, not constant resources. That shift creates resilience more effectively than a sign on the wall.

A stronger way forward

If your team is stuck between burnout and boredom, don’t settle for a rule that masks the problem.

Build systems that let people bring energy to work without sacrificing their personal lives. Create clear boundaries, honest check-ins, shared responsibility, and a pattern of small, supportive moments. That takes time and leadership that models behavior and listens more than it commands.

The FISH! Philosophy offers an approachable framework to help teams build trust, connection, and shared responsibility. It can provide practical language and structure to support healthier habits without turning care into a performance metric. Used thoughtfully, it doesn’t ask people to smile through excessive work; instead, it helps teams create a more human, sustainable way of working together.

If you want help building a workplace where people can do their best work without losing themselves in the work, take advantage of our Upgraded Trial Offer where you can access trainings for your team, your leaders, and yourself.

The question to ask this weekend

The next time you see a weekend email, pause before you react.

Ask more than “Why are they working?” Ask:

• “Do they feel they have a choice?”
• “Are they okay—really?”
• “What is this habit telling me about our team?”

Those questions lead to the diagnosis and the right fix: support one person, rebalance the work, change a process, or reinforce healthy norms. Listening is the first step. Then act on what you learn.

Frequently Asked Questions

Should employees work on weekends?

Working on weekends is acceptable if an employee occasionally chooses to do so out of genuine passion, personal project ownership, or schedule flexibility. However, if weekend work is chronic, forced, or driven by unrealistic workload pressure, it signals systemic issues that leaders must address.

What are some signs that my job is too demanding?

Common signs include physical exhaustion, persistent anxiety, feeling required to answer after-hours messages, and being unable to complete core tasks during regular work hours. When work regularly invades personal time without individual choice, the workload has exceeded healthy limits.

What is a reasonable workload?

A reasonable workload allows employees to accomplish their key responsibilities within normal business hours while maintaining high quality standards. It leaves sufficient time for collaboration, rest, and personal life without relying on regular evening or weekend hours to stay caught up.

How do you stop overworking at work?

Stop overworking by having an open conversation with your manager to clarify top priorities and eliminate non-essential tasks. Establish clear off-hours boundaries, delegate responsibilities where possible, and request workload adjustments or additional support before burnout occurs.

The post What Working on Weekends Actually Reveals About Employee Burnout appeared first on FISH! Philosophy Training.

But if you’re still putting in the hours, what lessons can we take away from this “lost” last week that can help us work more effectively every other week of the year?

Be There: Stay focused and don’t let quality slide

During this lost week, we often have fewer responsibilities to manage – and naturally, you’d think that means each task would get more care and attention, right? The truth is, as counter-intuitive as it sounds, we often do our best work when our schedules are full and begin to let things slip when we’re less taxed.

Whether it’s downtime during the last week of the year or just any time during work when you have less to do than usual, these are great times to practice Being There and approaching every task mindfully. Doing so will ensure that nothing becomes rote, nothing slips through the cracks, and your output stays as efficient and high-quality as it ever was.

Play: Use downtime to brainstorm new ideas 

One of the most common feelings during this last week of the year is an overwhelming sense of boredom. Every email’s been answered, every form filed, every task completed – we simply don’t have much to do. Does that mean it’s time to twiddle your thumbs and binge-watch YouTube videos? Not necessarily!

When all your projects are complete, rather than thinking of your work day as over, think about it as “unstructured” instead – turn your attention to future projects or future needs, and let your mind wander, toy with new ideas, and see where your creativity leads you. By taking this unstructured work time to Play with new concepts without fear of judgment or dismissal, you can come out of your slower season with fantastic plans that will put your organization ahead of your competition.

Choose Your Attitude: Keep your work in perspective

Even if there’s not much work to do during this week between holidays, the work you do have to do can feel extra-frustrating. Whether it’s projects sitting idle waiting on approval from higher-ups who are on vacation, emails that go unanswered, or external partners who close their offices for the season, it can feel like we’re the only ones who see how important our work really is.

While we don’t want to deny the importance of our work, it can help to practice putting things in perspective – is it really life-or-death if that signature doesn’t come in until the new year? Will you be fired because your boss isn’t checking emails? Probably not. We want to do our best work, but by practicing Choose Your Attitude, we can reframe our expectations during less-active periods and find ourselves less impatient and more at-ease.

Make Their Day: Reward those who put in the work nobody wants to do

There’s no getting around the fact that as a manager, making people work the last week of the year can be a real bummer. You may need the coverage, but no matter how you slice it, your team will see people gone, envy them for enjoying their holiday vacation, and gripe about being stuck in the office – and the best thing you can do is to acknowledge that and reward people for showing up.

This could mean time-and-a-half pay, an extra holiday bonus, or even just smaller rewards like catered lunches, work-from-home flexibility, or the option to take off early if all tasks are completed. Regardless of what you choose, recognizing the effort people are putting in during times others have off can go a long way to making every member of your team happy with their workplace – or at least less likely to foster bitterness and resentment

Ideas to Reflect On:

• When you have a slower period at work, how can you structure your day to minimize careless errors and use your time to efficiently prepare for the future?
• Do you find yourself feeling anxious if projects get “stuck” without moving forward? What’s the root of that anxiety, and do those feelings fit the facts?
• If you manage a team, what do you do to recognize and reward those that provide necessary coverage during common holiday periods? Are these actions sufficient to keep your team happy?

The post 4 FISH! Lessons from the Last Week of the Year appeared first on FISH! Philosophy Training.

Dear Colleague,

I’m writing to tell you about something that makes my life as an educator easier.

Hello, I’m Jon Acton. I’ve served as Superintendent for two school districts and as Principal of The Cascade High School, in Clayton, IN.

You and I have never met, but we may have a lot in common as educational leaders.

Things like:

• Frustration about student engagement, behavioral issues, or academic performance.

• Worry about morale and burnout among teachers and staff. You may be doing fine, but others are struggling.

• Concern about the future for your students. Their empathy and social skills seem to be declining, especially after the pandemic.

• Pressure to improve student performance and school culture. It feels like you’re under constant scrutiny from all sides.

I could go on, but I think you know what I’m talking about.

We have financial concerns, legislative concerns, programming concerns.

How do we get everything accomplished that we’re supposed to get accomplished?

Our profession is demanding, stressful, and sometimes heartbreaking. It’s not just how difficult our work is, but how it affects us personally. You may be hearing things like:

• “School’s boring. No one cares about me.” – Students

• “You’re not doing enough for my child.” – Parents

• “We’ve tried everything. Nothing changes around here.” –Teachers

• “Your school’s performance is lagging.” – School Board

Nobody likes to hear that. But the reason I’m writing is because I found a better way to do my job and it might help you too.

It’s called The FISH! Philosophy for Schools. It’s not a fad or some corporate training that was shoehorned into education. It was developed by educators for educators in 2005, used by over 1,100 schools worldwide. When I first introduced it to our teachers, they looked at me like, “Who is this guy? And what is he talking about?”

But the practices of The FISH! Philosophy – Choose Your Attitude, Be There, Play, and Make Their Day – are easy to grasp and implement. Since adopting them, here’s what I’ve seen:

• In our school, office referrals dropped 73%, our culture improved dramatically, and we were selected as a National Blue Ribbon High School.

• Students do better academically. The FISH! Philosophy teaches being present and being there for others. That helped our students be more compassionate and engaged, which spills over into everything that matters. They say things like, “We’re all a family and FISH! has helped bring us all closer together.”

• Teachers were amazed after some initial skepticism. Nobody wants more things on their plate, but we all found out that FISH! works. One said, “Now students are able to learn happier. And when you’re learning happier, you can learn more.”

• Families are excited about FISH!. I had parents comment on what a positive change in attitude their child developed at home.

Climate, culture, and relationships are the building block for everything. Because everything in life is based on our attitudes. We have a phrase here, “Have a day, good or bad, you decide.” As sure as I’m sitting here, I believe FISH! has been a key component for our success.

I don’t want to make this too long. If you’ve read this far and want to find out more about what The FISH! Philosophy can do in your school, you can get more information by contacting Charthouse Learning and asking them any questions about FISH! For Schools. They’re knowledgeable and friendly.

Thank you for reading this letter. I hope you found it helpful.

Jon Acton

Jon Acton
Superintendent and Principal (retired)

P.S. I don’t make a penny for recommending FISH! For Schools. I’m just happy to tell other educators about what it’s done for us. To learn more or ask any questions, you can schedule a call with Lisa Olsonoski.

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